JOHN M. KELLY LIBRARY
Donated by
The Redemptorists of
the Toronto Province
from the Library Collection of
Holy Redeemer College, Windsor
University of
St. Michael's College, Toronto
*Eflf£M£*
SPURGEON'S
ILLUSTRATIVE ANECDOTES
Spurgeon's
Illustrative Anecdotes
Selected and Classified by
REV. LOUIS ALBERT BANKS, D. D.
Author of "Anecdotes and Morals," "Windows for
Sermons," etc.
NEW YORK AND LONDON
FUNK & WAGNALLS COMPANY
COPYRIGHT, 1906,
BY
FUNK & WAGNAIXS COMPANY
[Printed in the United States of America]
Published May, 1906
COMPILER'S PREFACE
The name of Charles H. Spurgeon stands before the
whole world as the highest since the name of Wesley and
Whitefield as a successful preacher of the several gospels
in such a way as to win men to Christ. His individual
sermons are still selling by hundred thousands and men are
still being converted to Christ in all parts of the world
through the reading of his printed words. It cannot help
but be of interest to the preacher who desires to be a soul
winner to become acquainted with the anecdotes and illus
trations used by this man who was so marvelously blessed
of God in the salvation of souls. In this book I have
gathered Spurgeon's stories. Some of them were repeated
again and again in his volumes of sermons and show the
value which he places on them and the success with which
he used them. I send them forth with a warm-hearted
desire that on the tongue of the multitude of preachers
everywhere they shall go forth with new life and continue
to be winged arrows of the gospel.
Louis ALBERT BANKS.
Denver, Col.
Contents
AFFLICTION PAGE
Blessings of Affliction 1
Affliction the Test of Sonship 1
AMBITION
Seek the Higher Things 2
True Greatness 3
Noble Aspiration 3
Lofty Ambition 4
APPEARANCES
Appearances Deceptive 5
ATONEMENT
The Christian's Ruby Ring 5
Christ the Sin- Bearer 5
Our Substitute 6
Christ Wins Us by Dying For Us 7
The Atonement a Sword 8
The Atonement Must be Proclaimed 8
A Joyous Verdict 9
Christ Suffering in Our Stead 9
The Sinner's Ransom 10
BACKSLIDERS
A Lost Fellowship 10
Backsliders Reclaimed 11
THE BIBLE
The Charm of the Bible 11
The Light of the Bible 12
The Neglected Bible 13
Bible Precious Through Use 13
Eating God's Word 14
BLESSINGS
The Chain of Blessings 14
Christ Bringing Blessings 15
The Secret of Finding Blessing 15
CHRIST
Christ Best Known in Heaven 16
Drop Christ's Arms 17
The Triumph of Jesus 17
Christ the Bond of Union 19
Christ our Priest 20
The Soul's Food and Drink 20
Wear Christ's Uniform 21
vii
CONTENTS
PAGE
Christ in the Dying Hour 22
Sanctuary in Christ 22
Christ in the Heart a Disinfectant 23
For Christ's Sake 24
Christ Always New 24
" Bleating of the Sheep " 25
Yoked with Christ 26
Christ Grows on the Growing Christian 26
Running Into Christ's Arms 27
Not Works but Christ 27
A True Friend 27
The Elder Brother 28
The Savior 29
Christ's Tender Care 30
Christ Seeking After Sinners 30
< Christ Pulling at Our Hearts 31
X Christ a Victor 31
, Christ Ever the Same 32
» Christ Seeking the Lost 32
"* The Humiliation of Christ 33
No Caste to Christ 33
Christ Our Only Resting Place 34
Christ the True Physician 34
Jesus Belongs to All Humanity 35
Christ's Joy in Soul-saving 35
Christ's Ownership in His People 35
Christ the Outcast's Saviour 36
Overpowering Love of Christ 36
Christ as Engraver 37
The Lost Child 37
The Seeking Shepherd 37
The True Shepherd 38
Christ the Plant of Renown 38
Christ as King 39
Christ the Sinner's Only Physician 40
Christ Inspires Enthusiasm 41
Christ's Delight in His People 41
Christ Sufficient for All Kinds of Sinners 42
Christ as a Ferryman 43
Christ the Door 43
Suffering for Christ 44
Christ the Root 45
Christ Grows on His Disciples 46
Christ the Pole Star 47
Christ our Banner 48
Christ the Center of Attack 49
Christ Our Guide 49
Loyalty to Christ 50
CONTENTS ix
PAGE
Christ Trustworthy 51
Christ Bringing Men Back 52
Immediate Healing 53
Christ the Only Ark of Safety 53
CHRISTIANS
Prosperity Dangerous 54
The Idle Christian a Hindrance 55
The Righteous Safe 55
Impressions Easily Wear Away 56
Perseverance 57
Did not Really Wish to Die 58
The Christian's Secret 58
Vagrant Thoughts 59
Persecution the Fertilizer of Religion 60
Sham Religion 60
Indifference to Slander 60
A Christian Home 61
A Worldly Christian 62
The Christian's Victory 63
Unwilling Doubts not Sins 63
Making Idols of Children 64
Attractive Christians 64
Changeable Christians 64
Folly of " the Blues " 65
Sent of God - 65
The Martyr's Victory 66
Run When You Cannot Fly 67
God's Special Care 67
Gloomy Days Our Own Fault 67
Present Victory 68
The Common Christian Soldier 68
The Man Holding the Rope 69
An Impregnable Fortress 69
A Son's Boldness 70
The Marks of Discipleship 71
The Christian's Walk 71
Quarreling with God 71
Christian Fragrance 71
The Christian's Apparel 72
The Rooted Christian 72
Faith which Cannot be Shaken 73
Sham Christians 74
The Hidden Fountain 74
The Christian Can Afford to be Poor 75
The Christian Defying Satan 75
CHRISTIANITY
Persecution Futile Against Christianity 76
The Democracy of Christianity 76
CONTENTS
CHURCH PAGE
The Power of a Live Church 77
The Layman's Privilege 78
A Sleeping Church 79
CONSCIENCE
Conscience Needs Illumination 80
A Fearful Conscience 80
True to His Conscience 81
CONVERSATION
Vapid Conversation 81
CONVERSION
Look and Live 82
Christ at the Door 82
Man's Convent not Christ's 83
A Stranger Finding Christ 83
Joy in Heaven over a Child's Conversion 84
A Strange Conversion 85
Conversion Necessary 85
Transformation through Conversion 86
Diamonds Out of Pebble Stones 86
Changed by Conversion 87
An Infidel's Conversion 87
A Notable Conversion 89
A New Creature 90
The Brand Plucked Out of the Fire 90
Better than He Expected 91
Came to Scoff but Remained to Pray 91
Joy of Conversion 92
THE CROSS
The Token of the Cross 92
Salvation at the Foot of the Cross 93
The Cross a Stumbling-block 94
The Plea of the Cross 94
DEATH
Death the End of Probation 95
Dying Grace 95
Death Certain 96
Death the Christian's Awakening 97
Certainty of Death Should Humble Us 97
Death a Mercy 97
Death Like Going to Bed 98
Death Sets Us Free 98
A Messenger from the Grave 99
Death Can Do No Real Harm 99
Dying without Hope 100
Death of the Wicked 101
CONTENTS
DECISION PAGE
Indecision 101
The Great Decision 102
Solemn Decisions 103
Prompt Decision 104
DUTY
Day by Day 104
Our Duty to Our Neighbor 105
Steadfast in Duty 105
The Duty at Hand 106
EARNESTNESS
Wasted Zeal 106
Christian Earnestness 107
Refreshed by Enthusiasm 107
Earnestness 108
EXERCISE
Exercising Our Faith 108
Need of Spiritual Exercise 109
FAITH
Fear and Faith 109
Faith and Joy 110
Faith and Healing 110
Faith and Feeling Ill
Unknown Heroes of Faith Ill
The Riches of Christian Faith 112
Superficial Unbelief 112
Faith and Reason 113
Danger of Unbelief 1 14
Faith Awakened Through God's Kindness 114
" Little Faith " 115
A Sham Faith 116
The Rope of Faith 116
Solid Footing for Faith 117
The Leap of Faith 118
Confidence and Heroism 119
Pioneers of Faith 119
Faith Honored 119
Obedience of Faith 121
Faith in Tribulation 122
FORGIVENESS
A Sure Pardon 123
A Free Pardon 124
The Returning Prodigal 124
The Forgiveness of God 125
Christ's Instant Pardon 126
GOD
Knowing God 126
For His Son's Sake . 127
xii CONTENTS
PAGE
The Love of God 128
God Like a Mother 128
A Father's Heart 129
God Ever Present 129
God's Tenderness 130
Responsibility to God 130
God's Call 131
God More Careful than a Mother 132
Helpfulness without God 132
Depth of a Father's Love 133
God Our Deliverer 133
God Our Defender 134
The Father's Love 134
God's Consideration 135
God's Pity 135
God's Fatherhood 136
At Home in God's Arms 136
God's Defense of His Children 137
The Patience of God 137
Imitating God 138
Under the Divine Shadow 138
Chastening a Pledge of Fatherly Love 139
Give God the Rudder 140
GOODNESS
Genuine Piety 140
Good, but Good for Nothing 141
GRATITUDE
Gratitude for Spiritual Blessings 142
Gratitude for Salvation 142
Expressing Gratitude 143
HEARERS
Hearers, but not Doers 144
Personal Application of Truth 144
Deaf Hearers 145
HEART
Writing on the Heart 145
The Burglar in the Heart 145
Tainted Food 146
Keeping the Heart Pure 147
The Wicked Heart 147
The Trouble Within 148
Gospel Hardened 148
The Hardening Heart 149
HEAVEN
Only the Good would be Happy in Heaven 149 .
Not Yet Due in Heaven 150
No Strife in Heaven 151
CONTENTS xiii
PAGE
Recognition of Friends in Heaven 152
Memory of Earth's Mercies a Joy in Heaven 152
The Rewards of Heaven 152
HINDRANCES
Overcoming Hindrances 154
Overcoming Difficulties 155
Meet Difficulties Bravely 155
HOPE
Hope " The Swimming Thought " 156
Hope of Immortality 156
The Fountain of Hope 156
Saved though Blasted Hopes 157
HUMILITY
Humility Necessary 158
Humility in Prayer 158
IMMORTALITY
The Healing of Death 159
Immortality 159
The Land of the Living 160
INFIDELITY
Paul not an Agnostic 160
Infidelity a Frail Support 160
IMITATION
The Pearl of Great Price 162
The Bell of Welcome 163
" Whosoever Will " 163
Whosoever 164
JOY
Christian Gladness 164
Afraid of Gladness 164
Superiority of Christian Joy 165
The Honey of Christian Experience 165
Overflowing Christian Joy 166
Joy without Bitterness 167
JUDGMENT
Judgment Warped by Personal Consideration 167
LIFE
Human Kindness 168
True Wisdom 168
Known by Our Deeds 169
Idle Dreams 169
A Wasted Life 169
Light Needed for the Feet 170
The Blessedness of Old Age 170
Making Our Own Epitaph 171
The Frailty of the Human Body 171
xiv CONTENTS
PAGE
Frailty of Human Life 172
The Loneliness of Life 172
Uncertain Tenure of Life 173
LOVE
Loving Our Neighbors 174
Christian Love Needed 174
MERCY
The Music of Mercy 175
The Stream of Mercy 176
Covenant Mercies 176
Mercy through Christ 176
God's Mercy for All 180
PEACE
The Peace of God 181
A Peaceful Mind 182
Peace in Jesus Only 183
PRAYER
Empty Prayers 183
Exaltation in Prayer 184
Revival through Prayer 185
Praying for the Lost 186
A Poor Woman's Throne 187
A Spiritual Birthplace 187
The Pledge of Security 188
Secret Prayer 189
Won through Prayer 189
Culture through Prayer 190
Weak through Lack of Prayer 19 1
Led by the Spirit in Prayer 191
Scoffers at Prayer 192
Telling Everything to Jesus 192
Praying for Special Things 193
Definite Aim in Prayer 193
Prayer about Common Mercies 194
Praying for Our Friends 194
Frequent Prayer 195
Heaven's Gate Always Open to the Praying Chris
tian 195
A Futile Prayer 196
Paying and Praying 196
A Prayerless Man 196
God Listening to Prayer 196
Persistent Prayer 197
Praying for Individuals 198
PREACHER
The Power of a Definite Purpose 198
Meditation 199
CONTENTS xv
PAGE
Saved by a Stray Sermon 199
The True Preacher 200
Magnifying the Ministry 201
Christ in the Sermon 201
Falling on the Promises 202
Sermons Born of Feeling 202
Keep the Light Burning „ 203
A Preacher Converted 203
A Child's Religion 204
Sad results of Careless Conduct 204
A sermon that went to the Mark 206
Hiding Behind Christ 206
Too Much Red Tape 20<5
A Word in Season 207
A Dumb Dog 207
Fishing but Never Catching 207
A Faithful Messenger 208
The Preacher God's Messenger to the Conscience 208
PRIDE
Insidious Flattery 209
Wicked Pride 210
Danger of Self-Confidence 210
Need of God's Help 211
Danger of Pride 211
THE PROMISES
Pleading God's Promises 212
Lying on the Promises 213
God's Promises 214
PROPHECY
A Marvelous Prophecy 215
PROVIDENCE
A Providence 217
Look at Both Sides 218
Special Providences 218
Providence as a Detective 219
PUNISHMENT
The Reckoning 220
The Fate of the Self-righteous 221
A Lost Soul 221
The Trifler's Doom 222
Doom of the Unstable 223
The Mocker's Doom 223
REGENERATION
Need of a New Birth 224
REPENTANCE
Personal Repentance 224
False Repentance 225
xvi CONTENTS
RESURRECTION PAGE
The Resurrection Glory 226
God's Cup 227
Resurrection of the Body 227
SALVATION
Free Salvation Suits All 228
The Day of Probation 228
The Great Salvation 229
Salvation only through Christ 229
The Sinner's Savior 230
Sinner's Clothed with Christ 231
The Key to Salvation 231
Bread Without Price 232
Folly of Rejecting Salvation 233
Permanence of Grace 233
No Condemnation for the Saved 234
Not by Works but Grace 234
Saved by Submission 235
Knocking for Mercy 235
Running into God's Arms 236
Hungry for Salvation 237
Only Candidates Elected 237
Insecure Foundations 237
The Water of Life 238
Our Part in Salvation 239
Universal Amnesty 239
Safe in the Ark 239
SATAN
Resist the Devil 240
Defeating the Devil 240
Satan and our Weak Spot 242
The Devil's Advocate 243
SERVICE
The Blessedness of Service 243
The Joy of Service 244
Persevering Service 245
The Service of Love 245
SIN
Time Cannot Cover Sin 246
The Sting of Death 246
Sin's Cruel Work 248
Afraid of Sin 249
A True Sight of Sin 249
Sin Must be Abandoned 250
Danger of Little Sins 250
Secret Love for Sin 251
The Thistle-seed 251
Hidden Sin 252
CONTENTS xvii
PAGE
Sin will not stay hidden 253
Sin Will Out 253
Presumptuous Sins 254
The Bravado of Sin 255
Cutting Sin's Traces 255
The Wolves of Sin 256
Breakling the Cart Ropes of Sin 256
Hiding Sin from God 257
Sin a Poison of the Blood 258
The Weight of Sin 259
Sin Must be Given Up 259
Sin Means Anarchy 260
The Scar of Sin 261
Recklessness of Sin 262
Breaking off Sin 262
Secret Sin 263
The Wages of Sin 263
Insincere Conviction of Sin 264
SINNERS
Keep out of Temptation 265
The Greatest Loss of All 265
Too-late ! 266
Hope for Sinners 267
The Sinner Seeing Double 267
Deceiving one's Own Soul 268
Heathen in Cities 269
A Hospital for Sinners 269
Secret Sinners 270
A Houseless Soul 271
Transient Feeling 272
True Religion Only Safeguard of Character 272
The Point of View 273
Three Fools 274
Serving against Light 275
The Lost 275
The Sinner's Emancipation 276
God's Message through Mothers 277
Be Sure of the Foundation 277
Foolish Objections 278
Christ Drawing the Sinner 279
The Hypocrite 279
A Note of Warning 280
The Sinner's Down Hill 280
The Folly of the Caviller 281
Ingratitude of the Sinner 281
The Foolish Builder 281
The Sinner's Refuge 282
The Sinner's Folly 28S
xviii CONTENTS
PAGE
The Folly of Sinners 283
The Doom of the Impenitent 284
SORROWS
Sorrow changed to Song 285
SOUL WINNING
Sowing and Reaping 286
Won by His Parents' Love 286
Fitting Ourselves to Save Others 287
Saved Souls Most Useful 288
The Lost Redeemed 288
Christ Rejoices when the Christian Saves a Soul .... 289
Joy of Soul-Winning 290
HOLY SPIRIT
The Holy Spirit Invincible 291
Influence of the Spirit 291
The Loving Comforter 292
STRENGTH
Husks of Men 292
Consecration Source of Strength 293
Strength in Consecration 294
Our Strength in God 294
Strong When God Leads 295
Strength Distributing Sweetness 296
Strength through Weakness 296
SYMPATHY
Christian Sympathy 297
Superficial Sympathy 298
Sympathy Born of Experience 299
Sympathy 299
TALENTS
Do What You can Do Best 300
Every Man in His Place 300
TESTIMONY
Won by his Wife's Faith .'.... 300
Tell your Own Story 3
An Old Saint's Inspiring Testimony 302
Value of Testimony 302
Bearing Testimony 3
Experience of Aged Christians 303
TRIALS
Comfort in Trial 304
Saved as by Fire 30J
Growing Great Through Trial 306
Rest Through Conflict 307
Strong through Struggle 30i
CONTENTS xix
TRUST PAGE
Work and Trust 308
The Wisdom of Trust in God 309
Trust the Key to Life's Problem 309
Trust in God 310
Trust and Service 310
WEAKNESS
The Appeal of Weakness 310
WEALTH
Seeking Heavenly Riches 311
Drowned by Riches 311
Debased by Wealth 312
The Idolatry of Money 313
1
Spurgeon's Illustrative Anecdotes
AFFLICTION
Blessings of Afflict ion.— God has beauties for every part
of the world; and he has beauties for every place of ex
perience? There are views to be seen from the tops
of the Alps that you can never see elsewhere. Ay, but
there are beauties to be seen in the depths of the dell
that ye could never see on the tops of the mountains;
there are glories to be seen on Pisgah, wondrous sights
to be beheld when by faith we stand on Tabor; but
there are also beauties to be seen in our Gethsemanes,
and some marvelously sweet flowers are to be culled by
the edge of the dens of the leopards. Men will never
become great in divinity until they become great in
suffering. " Ah ! " said Luther, " affliction is the best
book in my library ; " and let me add, the best leaf in
the book of affliction is that blackest of all the leaves,
the leaf called heaviness, when the spirit sinks within
us, and we can not endure as we could wish.
Affliction the Test of Sonship.— Affliction is the seal of
the Lord's election. I remember a story of Mr. Mack,
who was Baptist minister in Northamptonshire. In
his youth he was a soldier, and calling on Robert Hall,
when his regiment marched through Leicester, that great
man became interested in him, and procured his release
from the ranks. When he went to preach in Glasgow,
he sought out his aged mother, whom he had not seen
for many years. He knew his mother the moment he
i
2 SPURGEON'S ILLUSTRATIVE ANECDOTES
saw her; but the old lady did not recognize her son.
It so happened that when he was a child, his mother had
accidentally wounded his wrist with a knife. To com
fort him she cried, " Never mind, my bonnie bairn, your
mither will ken you by that when ye are a man." When
Mack's mother would not believe that a grave, fine-look
ing minister could be her own child, he turned up his
sleeve and cried, "Mither, mither, dinna ye ken that?"
In a moment they were in each other's arms. Ah, breth
ren, the Lord knows the spot of his children. He ac
knowledges them by the mark of correction. What God
is doing to us in the way of trouble and trial is but his
acknowledgment of us as true heirs, and the marks of his
rod shall be our proof that we are not bastards, but true
sons.
AMBITION
Seek the Higher Things.— Some years ago, there was a
crossing-sweeper in Dublin, with his broom, at the cor
ner, and in all probability his highest thoughts were to
keep the crossing clean, and look for the pence. One
day, a lawyer put his hand upon his shoulder, and said
to him, "My good fellow, do you know that you are
heir to a fortune of ten thousand pounds a year? " " Do
you mean it?" said he. "I do," he said. "I have just
received the information; I am sure you are the man."
He walked away, and he forgot his broom. Are you
astonished? Why, who would not have forgotten a
broom when suddenly made possessor of ten thousand
a year? So, I pray that some poor sinners, who have
been thinking of the pleasures of the world, when they
hear that there is hope, and that there is heaven to be
had, will forget the deceitful pleasures of sin, and fol
low after higher and better things.
AMBITION
True Greatness. — I had a good friend who preserved the
axle-tree of the truck in which he wheeled home his goods
when he first came to London. It was placed over his
front door, and he never blushed to tell how he came up
from the country, worked hard, and made his way in
the world. I like this a deal better than the affected
gentility which forgets the lone half-crown which pined
in solitude in their pockets when they entered this city.
They are indignant if you remind them of their poor
old father in the country, for they have discovered that
the family is very ancient and honorable; in fact, one
of their ancestors came over with the Conqueror. I
have never felt any wish to be related to that set of
vagabonds; but tastes differ, and there are some who
think that they must be superior beings because they are
descended from Norman freebooters. Nobodies suddenly
swell as if they were everybody. Observe that Jacob
does not say, " Years ago I was at home with my father
Isaac, a man of large estate." Nor does he talk of his
grandfather Abraham as a nobleman of an ancient family
in Ur, of the Chaldees, who was entertained by mon-
archs. No, he was not so silly as to boast of aristocracy
and wealth, but he frankly owns his early poverty:—
" With my staff, a poor, lonely, friendless man, I crossed
this Jordan, and now I am become two bands." It hum
bles him to think of what he was, but at the same time
it strengthens him in prayer; for in effect he pleads,
" Lord, hast thou made two bands of me that Esau may
have the more to destroy? Hast thou given me these
children that they may fall by the sword?" So again
I say, that which humbled also encouraged him : he found
his strength in prayer in those very things which fur
nished motives for lowliness.
Noble Aspiration. — I have often used an illustration taken
from a person who teaches the art of growing taller. I
do not believe in that art: we shall not add a cubit to
4 SPURGEON'S ILLUSTRATIVE ANECDOTES
our stature just yet. But part of this professor's exer
cise is, that in the morning, when you get up, you are to
reach as high as ever you can, and aim a little higher
every morning, though it be only the hundredth part of
an inch. By that means you are to grow. This is so
with faith. Do all you can, and then do a little more:
and when you can do that, then do a little more than
you can. Always have something in hand that is greater
than your present capacity. Grow up to it, and when
you have grown up to it, grow more. By many little
additions a great house is built. Brick by brick up rose
the pyramid. Believe and yet believe. Trust and have
further trust. Hope shall become faith, and faith shall
ripen to full assurance and perfect confidence in God
Most High.
Lofty Ambition.— " Who knoweth whether thou art come
to the kingdom for such a time as this ? " Rise to the
utmost possible height. Fulfill your calling to its loftiest
degree. Not only do all that you are sure you can do,
but aim at something which as yet is high up among the
questions. Say to yourself, "Who knoweth?" That is
what the ambitious man says when he aspires to be great.
When Louis Napoleon was shut up in the fortress of
Ham, and everybody ridiculed his foolish attempts upon
France, yet he said to himself, "Who knows? I am the
nephew of my uncle, and may yet sit upon the imperial
throne," and he did so before many years had passed.
I have no desire to make any man ambitious after the
poor thrones, and honors, and riches of this world; but
I would fain make you all ardently ambitious to honor
God and bless men. Who knows? Does anybody know
what God may do by you? Does anybody know what
capacities slumber within your bosom?
ATONEMENT
APPEARANCES
Appearances Deceptive.— I remember conversing with a
person, who was concerned in one of the great specu
lations which brought loss and ruin to many, and as I
looked into his honest face and heard his open-hearted
talk, I said to myself, " This is not a man who is capable
of robbery. He is a plain, blunt, farmer-like sort of a
man, who might even be the victim of the confidence
trick." I afterward learned that this is the usual style
of a man who puffs a company, or betrays a trust. Of
course if a man looks like a thief, you button up your
pockets, and smile if he invites you to take shares; but
you are off your guard when the man appears to be the
embodiment of simple honesty.
ATONEMENT
The Christian's Ruby Ring.— One of our kings once gave
a ring to his favorite, and said to him, " I know that at
the council to-morrow a charge of heresy will be brought
against you ; but, when you come in, answer them if you
will, but you need be in no fear; if you find yourself
brought to a strait, simply show them the ring, and they
will go no further." It is even so with us; the Lord
has given us the precious blood of Christ to be like a
ruby ring upon our finger, and now we know how far
conscience may go, and how far accusations from Satan
may go; we have only to produce that token and bar
all further proceedings. " He that believeth in him is
not condemned," neither can he be.
Christ the Sin-Bearer.— An old servant was once carrying
a large bough of a tree to have it cut into pieces to make
a fire. A little boy, one of the family, seeing the end
of it dragging along the ground and making it very
6 SPURGEON'S ILLUSTRATIVE ANECDOTES
heavy, came and took hold of the end, and the burden
grew light. Then said the servant, " Ah ! Master Frank,
I wish you could take hold of one end of the greater
burden that I have to carry : I have a burden of sin ; the
more I drag it about, the heavier it becomes. I wish
Jesus Christ would take hold of one end of it." The lit
tle boy said, " My mother told me, yesterday, that Jesus
Christ carries all our sins; therefore you do not want
Jesus Christ to drag one end of it : he will take the whole
of it." The poor woman, who had been long seeking
rest, found it by that remark of the child. Yes, Jesus
does take your sins. If thou trustest Christ, this is the
evidence that all thy sins are laid on him.
" Sinner, nothing do,
Either great or small;
Jesus did it, did it all,
Long, long ago."
Our Substitute. — You remember that in Prussia there was
a law which exempted the only son of a widow from
going to war; but it is said that so closely were they
driven for recruits, that the law was for a time rescinded,
and the widow's only son was taken. Suppose such a
thing happened here, and there should be a widow whose
only son was demanded of her. See her come forward,
saying, " Ay, take him ; my country is dearer to me even
than he is." She puts him forward, and says, " Go
forth, my son, to die if it be necessary; I give thee up,
I give thee willingly." You see the red, red eye of the
widow; she hath wiped it dry, but she hath wept in se
cret; and if we steal behind the door when her son is
gone, and see her pouring out whole floods of sorrow, we
can tell how great must have been her love for her coun
try which made her give up him — her all. Beloved, we
never should know Christ's love in all its heights and
ATONEMENT
depths if he had not died ; uor could we tell the Father's
deep affection if he had not given his Son to die.
Christ Wins Us by Dying for Us.— There is a story told
of the Covenanters — of one named Patrick Welwood —
whose house was surrounded at a time when a minister
had for security been hidden there. Claverhouse's dra
goons were at the door, and the minister had fled. The
master of the house was summoned, and it was demanded
of him, " Where is the minister ? " " He is gone ; I can
not tell whither, for I know not." But they were not
satisfied with that; they tortured him, and since he could
not tell them where he was (for in reality he did not
know), they left him, after inflicting upon him the tor
ture of the thumbscrew ; and they took his sister, a young
girl who was living in the house. I believe she did know
where the minister was concealed, but on taking her they
asked her, and she said, "No, I can die myself, but I
can never betray God's servant, and never will, as he may
help me." They dragged her to the water's edge, and
making her kneel down, they determined to put her to
death. But the captain said, " Not yet ; we will try to
frighten her ; " and sending a soldier to her, he knelt
down, and applying a pistol to her ear, she was bidden
to betray the minister or die. The click of the pistol
was heard in her ear, but the pistol was not loaded.
She slightly shivered, and the question was again asked
of her. " Tell us now," said they, " where he is, or we
will have your life." " Never, never," said she. A sec
ond time the endeavor was made; this time a couple of
carabines were discharged, but into the air, in order to
terrify her. At last they resolved upon really putting
her to death, when Trail, the minister, who was hidden
somewhere near, being aroused by the discharge of guns,
and seeing the poor girl about to die for him, sprang
forward, and cried, " Spare that maiden's blood, and
take mine; this poor innocent girl, what hath she done? "
8 SPURGEON'S ILLUSTRATIVE ANECDOTES
The poor girl was dead even then with the fright; but
the minister had come prepared to die himself, to save
her life. 0, my friends, I have sometimes thought that
her heroic martyrdom was somewhat like the blessed
Jesus. He comes to us, and says, "Poor sinner, wilt
thou be my friend?" We answer, "No." "Ah! I will
make thee so," saith he, " I will die for thee ; " and he
goes to die on the cross.
The Atonement a Sword.— When a man gets a sword, you
cannot be quite certain how he will use it. A gentleman
has purchased a very expensive sword with a golden
hilt and an elaborate scabbard; he hangs it up in his
hall, and exhibits it to his friends. Occasionally he
draws it out from the sheath ,and he says, "Feel how
keen is the edge ! " The precious blood of Jesus is not
meant for us merely to admire and exhibit. We must
not be content to talk about it, and extol it, and do
nothing with it; but we are to use it in the great crusade
against unholiness and unrighteousness, till it is said of
us, "They overcame him by the blood of the Lamb."
This precious blood is to be used for overcoming, and
consequently for holy warfare. We dishonor it if we do
not use it to that end.
The Atonement Must be Proclaimed.— The other day,
when I was inquiring about the welfare of a certain
congregation, my informant told me that there had been
few additions to the church, altho the minister was
a man of ability and industry. Furthermore, he let me
see the reason of the failure, for he added, "I have
attended there for several years, and during all that
time I do not remember hearing a sermon upon the
sacrifice of Christ. The atonement is not denied, but it
is left out." If this be so, what is to become of our
churches? If the light of the atonement is put under a
bushel, the darkness will be dense. In omitting the cross
you haVe cut the tendon Achilles of the church : it can-
ATONEMENT
not move, nor even stand, when this is gone. Holy
work falls to the ground: it faints and dies when the
blood of Jesus is taken away. The cross must be put
in the front more than ever by the faithful, because so
many are unfaithful.
A Joyous Verdict. — You may have seen a well-painted
picture called "Waiting for the Verdict." What in
terest is displayed on every face! What fear and trem
bling upon the countenance of the prisoner! In his
wife and the friends around him, what anxiety is seen!
" Waiting for the Verdict " is a sad picture ; but what
another might be drawn of The Favorable Verdict
Received! The prisoner is acquitted! O what joy! It
is not possible to bring in a verdict of " Not Guilty "
for you and for me, for we are undoubtedly guilty; but
yet it is possible by the process of substitution and
divine grace to bring in a just verdict by which it is
witnessed that " There is now no condemnation."
Christ Suffering in our Stead. — You know the story, the
very excellent story, which I think was first told by Mr.
Moody, of the man who in the French war was drawn
for a soldier, but a friend stepped in, and was accepted
as his substitute. That substitute served in the war till
he was slain in battle. The man for whom he served
was drawn a second time, but he declined to serve. He
appeared before the court, and pleaded that he had been
drawn once, had served in the war by his substitute, and
must now be regarded as dead, because his representa
tive had been killed. He pleaded that his substitute's
service was practically his service, and it is said that the
law allowed his plea. Assuredly it is according to divine
equity, even if it be not according to human law. No
criminal can be hanged a second time; one death is all
the law requires: believers died in Christ unto sin once,
and now they penally die no more. Our condemnation
has spent itself upon our gracious representative. The
io SPURGEON'S ILLUSTRATIVE ANECDOTES
full vials of divine wrath against sin have been poured
upon the head of the great Shepherd, that this sheep
might go free; and therein is our joy, our comfort, our
security. " There is therefore now no condemnation to
them which are in Christ Jesus."
The Sinner's Ransom.— But there stands forth on our
behalf "the Wonderful, the Counsellor;" he takes his
brief in hand and begins to plead. Hark what he says,
and see how all opinion is turned at once ! " I confess,"
says he, "that every word is true that the last accuser
has said. My client pleads guilty to every charge; but
I have a full pardon signed by God's own hand, pur
chased by my own blood ; " and, stripping himself, he
shows his breast, and bares his arm, and says, " These
were given to me of my Father before the foundation
of the world. I bare their sins in my own body on
the tree. My Father justified them; I pardoned them."
And then, mounting to the highest point, he reaches the
climax of grace as he exclaims, " Who shall lay anything
to the charge of God's elect? Canst thou, 0 God? Hast
thou not justified? I cannot, for I died." Then he sits
down, in triumph, saying, " Whom he justified, them he
also glorified. Nothing shall be able to separate them
from the love of God." Shall not each ransomed sinner
shout with joy?
BACKSLIDERS
A Lost Fellowship.— I once asked a brother how long it
was since he had enjoyed fellowship with Jesus. His
reply was remarkable. "I feel sorry," said he, "you
have asked me that question, and yet I must thank you.
Had you asked me whether I continued in prayer, I
would have said ' Yes/ for, with more or less fervor, I
do constantly pray. Had you inquired whether I en
deavored to walk honestly and uprightly before my
THE BIBLE n
fellow creatures, I should have said, ' Yes, thank God,
I hope I have not slipped with my feet ; ' but when you
say, ' How long is it since you really have had fellow
ship with Jesus ? ' I blush to own that many a day has
passed since I have known this high privilege." Is that
so with you, my dear brothers and sisters in Christ? If
so, it is very, very sad.
Backsliders Reclaimed.— I remember one Monday after
noon, when we had been waiting upon the Lord in prayer
ever since seven o'clock in the morning, that there came
a most remarkable wave of prayer over the assembly.
And then two backsliders got up and prayed one after
the other. According to their own account, they had been
very bad fellows indeed, and had sorely transgressed
against God; but there they were, broken-hearted and
fairly broken down. It was a sight to make angels re
joice as their tears flowed. Certainly their sobs and
cries touched the hearts of all of us who were assembled.
I thought to myself, " Then God is blessing us, for when
backsliders come back it is a proof that God has visited
his people.
THE BIBLE
The Charm of the Bible. — There is such a charm about
the Bible, that he who reads it little may never perhaps
feel the whole of it. It is something like the Maelstrom
you have heard of, only in a different and more excel
lent sense. The Maelstrom is a great whirlpool on the
coast of Norway. A ship at a long distance from it will
feel a little of its attracting influence, a very little, yet
enough to make it veer from its course; but the nearer
it floats to the centre the stronger becomes the current,
and the more forcibly is the vessel carried along by it,
until at last, if the ship should be so unhappy as to
near it, it would whirl round at a tremendous rate until
it was thoroughly engulphed in its depths. In a higher
12 SPURGEON'S ILLUSTRATIVE ANECDOTES
and better sense the like is true of the Bible. The
nearer you go to it, and the more closely you study it,
the more rapidly do you revolve in its circles, the more
voraciously do you devour its contents, until at last you
are swallowed up in its glory, and long for nothing else
than to prove the heights and depths of this bliss un
fathomable — the love of God revealed to us in Christ,
in his sacred Word. Truly, of this book, we may say,
" Thou hast the dew of thy youth."
The Light of the Bible.— I recollect a story of Mr. Hume,
who so constantly affirmed that the light of reason is
abundantly sufficient. Being at a good minister's house
one evening, he had been discussing the question, and
declaring his firm belief in the sufficiency of the light of
nature. On leaving, the minister offered to hold him
a candle to light him down the steps. He said " No ;
the light of nature would be enough; the moon would
do." It so happened that the moon was covered with a
cloud, and he fell down the steps. " Ah ! " said the
minister, "you had better have had a little light from
above, after all, Mr. Hume." So, supposing the light
of nature to be sufficient, we had better have a little
light from above, too, and then we shall be sure to be
right. Better have two lights than only one. The light
of creation is a bright light. God may be seen in the
stars; his name is written in gilt letters on the brow
of night; you may discover his glory in the ocean waves,
yea, in the trees of the field; but it is better to read it
in two books than in one. You will find it here more
clearly revealed; for he has written this book himself,
and he has given you the key to understand it, if you
have the Holy Spirit. Ah, beloved, let us thank God
for this Bible ; let us love it ; let us count it more precious
than much fine gold.
THE BIBLE 13
The Neglected Bible.-— And I recollect a person once com
ing to me in private; I spoke to her about her soul, she
told me how deeply she felt, how she had a desire to
serve God, but she found another law in her members.
I turned to a passage in Romans, and read to her, " The
good that I would I do not; and the evil which I would
not that I do!" She said, " Is that in the Bible? I
did not know it." I did not blame her, because she had
no interest in the Bible till then; but I did not wonder
that there could be found persons who knew nothing
about such a passage. Ah! you know more about your
ledgers than your Bible; you know more about your
day-books than what God has written; many of you will
read a novel from beginning to end, and what have you
got? A mouthful of froth when you have done. But
you cannot read the Bible; that solid, lasting, substan
tial, and satisfying food goes uneaten, locked up in the
cupboard of neglect; while anything that man writes, a
catch of the day, is greedily devoured.
Bible Precious Through Use. — That young man over there
says it is a " bore ; " that is the word he uses. He says,
" My mother says to me, when you go up to town, read
a chapter every day. Well, I thought I would please
her, and I said I would. I am sure I wish I had not.
I did not read a chapter yesterday, or the day before.
"We were so busy, I could not help it." You do not love
the Bible, do you ? " No, there is nothing in it which is
interesting." Ah, I thought so. But a little while ago
I could not see anything in it. Do you know why?
Blind men cannot see, can they? But when the Spirit
touches the scales of the eyes, they fall off; and when
he puts eye-salves on, then the Bible becomes precious.
I remember a minister who went to see an old lady, and
he thought he would give her some precious promises
out of the word of God. Turning to one, he saw writ
ten in the margin " P.," and he asked, " What does this
14 SPURGEON'S ILLUSTRATIVE ANECDOTES
mean?" "That means precious, sir." Further down,
he saw " T. and P.," and he asked what the letters meant.
"That," she said, "means tried and proved, for I have
tried and proved it." If you have tried God's word and
proved it — if it is precious to your soul, then you are
Christians; but those persons who despise the Bible,
have " neither part nor lot in the matter."
Eating God's Word.— I have many an old book in my
library in which there have been book-worms, and I
have sometimes amused myself with tracing a worm. I
do not know how he gets to the volume originally, but
being there he eats his way into it. He bores a hole in
a direct line, and sometimes I find that he dies before
he gets half-way through the tome. Now and then a
worm has eaten his way right through from one wooden
cover to another; yes, and through the cover also. This
was a most successful book-worm. Few of us can eat
our way quite so far. I am one of the book-worms that
have not got half-way into my Bible yet; but I am
eating my way as fast as I can. This one thing I have
proved to myself beyond all question: I shall never,
never exhaust this precious Book; much less shall I ex
haust the wondrous person of my divinely-blessed Lord.
He is that bread which came down from heaven. He is
utterly inexhaustible.
BLESSINGS
The Chain of Blessings.— You sometimes see a railway
carriage or truck, fastened on to what goes before; but
there is also a great hook behind. What is that for?
Why, to fasten something else behind, and so to lengthen
the train. Any one mercy from God is linked on to all
the mercy that went before it; but provision is also
made for adding future blessing. All the years to come
are guaranteed by the ages past.
BLESSINGS 15
Christ Bringing Blessings.— I saw a fine carriage stop
ping the other day at a very humble hovel; and I
thought to myself, " that carriage is not stopping there
to collect rent, or to borrow a broom." Oh, no; that
lady yonder is calling round and visiting the poor, and
I doubt not she has taken in some nourishment to an
invalid. I hope it was so: and I am sure my Lord
Jesus Christ's carriage never stops at my door to get
anything out of me : whenever he comes he brings count
less blessings with him.
The Secret of Finding Blessing.— Do you remember the
story of Mr. Erskine and the good lady who went to
hear him preach at the communion? It was such sweet
preaching, she thought she had never heard the like. So,
after service, she asked, Who the gentleman was that
preached to-day; and, on being told that it was Mr.
Ebenezer Erskine, she said, " I will come and hear him
again next Sunday morning." She went, she listened,
and she thought to herself,— " Well, this is veiy dry,
very heavy preaching." She was not at all comforted
by it; then, like a foolish woman, as I should think she
must have been, she went into the vestry, and said,
" Oh, Mr. Erskine, I heard you last Sabbath with much
pleasure, sir; I never was so edified; and I came again
this morning, but I have been dreadfully disappointed."
So the good man said, very calmly, " Pray, madam, when
you came to the kirk last Sunday, what did you come
for?" She said, "I came to communion, sir." "To
have fellowship with Christ, I suppose ? " he asked.
" Yes, sir." " Well, you came for it, and you had it.
And pray, what did you come here this morning for? "
Said she, "I came to hear you, sir." "And, you had
it, woman," said he, " you had it, and you had not any
thing more than that." Well, now, when people come
merely to hear a minister, or for custom's sake, or for
form's sake, do they not always get what they come
16 SPURGEON'S ILLUSTRATIVE ANECDOTES
for? If people come to find fault, we always give them
plenty of our imperfections to be entertained with, so
they need not be disappointed. If others come merely
out of custom, they say, " Well, this is my work, I have
performed my duty." Of course it is, but if you had
come in through the door — that is, looking to Christ,
looking for Christ, desiring not to see the preacher but
the Lord, not to get the word of man but the Word of
God, to your soul — I believe you would have found
pasture. Brethren, the sheep want pasture. No other
food will suit them. So your soul wants heavenly truth,
and if you come to the house of God through Christ,
you will get it. If you turn to the Bible through Christ,
you will find it a rich storehouse. If you come to prayer
through the door of Christ, you will find it comforting,
and so you shall find pasture.
CHRIST
Christ Best Known in Heaven. — Christ will be best known
in eternity. The riches of Christ are not so much to
be enjoyed here as there. He will give you by the road
and on the way to heaven all your needs; your place of
defence shall be the munitions of rocks, your bread shall
be given you, and your water shall be sure; but it is
there, there, THERE, where you shall hear the song of
them that triumph, the shout of them that feast. My
dear hearer, if you get Christ, you have obtained riches
which you can take with you in the hour of death. Tie
rich man clutched his bags of money, and as he laid
them on his heart, he murmured, l i They will not do ;
they will not do ; take them away ! " If you receive
Jesus into your heart, he will be death's best antidote.
When your disembodied spirit quits this poor clay car
cass, as it must, what will your silver and gold do for
you then? What will your farms and your broad acres
CHRIST I?
do for you then? You must leave them all behind.
Even if men buy you a coffin of gold, or bury you in a
sarcophagus of marble, yet of what avail will that be?
But oh! if you have Christ, you can fly up to heaven to
your treasure, and there you shall be rich to all the in
tents of bliss, world without end.
Drop Into Christ's Arms. — Your condition is like that of
a child in a burning house, who, having escaped to the
edge of a window, hung on by the window-sill. The
flames were pouring out of the window underneath, and
the poor lad would soon be burnt, or falling would be
dashed to pieces; he therefore held on with the clutch
of death. He did not dare to relax his grasp till a
strong man stood underneath, and said, " Boy ! drop !
drop! I'll catch you." Now, it was no saving faith for
the boy to believe that the man was strong — that was a
good help towards faith — but he might have known that
and yet have perished; it was faith when the boy let go
and dropped down into his big friend's arms. There
are you, sinner, clinging to your sins or to your good
works. The Savior cries, " Drop ! drop into my arms ! "
The Triumph of Jesus.— When a Roman general had
performed great feats in a foreign country, his highest
reward was that the Senate should decree him a triumph.
Of course there was a division of spoil made on the
battle-field, and each soldier and each captain took his
share; but every man looked forward rapturously to the
day when they should enjoy the public triumph. On a
set day the gates of Rome were thrown open ; the houses
were all decorated; the people climbed to the roofs, or
stood in great crowds along the streets. The gates were
opened, and by and by the first legion began to stream
in with its banners flying, and its trumpets sounding.
The people saw the stern warriors as they marched along
the street returning from their blood-red fields of battle.
i8 SPURGEON'S ILLUSTRATIVE ANECDOTES
After one half of the army had thus defiled, your eye
would rest upon one who was the center of all attraction :
riding in a noble chariot, drawn by milk-white horses,
there came the conqueror himself, crowned with the laurel
crown and standing erect. Chained to his chariot were
the kings and mighty men of the regions which he had
conquered. Immediately behind them came part of the
booty. There were carried the ivory and the ebony, and
the beasts of the different countries which he had sub
dued. After these came the rest of the soldiery, a long,
long stream of valiant men, all of them sharing the
triumphs of their captain. Behind them came banners,
the old flags which had floated aloft in the battle, the
standards which had been taken from the enemy. And
after these, large painted emblems of the great vic
tories of the conqueror. Upon one there would be a
huge map depicting the rivers which he had crossed, or
the seas through which his navy had found their way.
Everything was represented in a picture, and the popu
lace gave a fresh shout as they saw the memorial of
each triumph. And behind, with the trophies, would
come the prisoners of less eminent rank. Then the rear
would be closed with sound of trumpet, adding to the
acclamation of the throng. It was a noble day for old
Rome. Children would never forget those triumphs;
they would reckon their years from the time of one tri
umph to another. High holiday was kept. Women
cast down flowers before the conqueror, and he was the
true monarch of the day.
Now, our apostle had evidently seen such a triumph,
or read of it, and he takes this as a representation of
what Christ did on the cross. He says, " Jesus made
a show of them openly, triumphing over them in it."
Have you ever thought that the cross could be the scene
of a triumph? Most of the old commentators can
CHRIST 19
scarcely conceive it to be true. They say, " This must
certainly refer to Christ's resurrection and ascension."
But, nevertheless, so saith the Scripture, even on the
cross Christ enjoyed a triumph. Yes! while those hands
were bleeding, the acclamations of angels were being
poured upon his head. Yes, while those feet were being
rent with the nails, the noblest spirits in the world were
crowding round him with admiration. And when upon
that blood-stained cross he died in agonies unutterable,
there was heard a shout such as never was heard before
for the ransomed in heaven, and all the angels of God
with loudest harmony chanted his praise. Then was
sung, in fullest chorus, the song of Moses, the servant
of God, and the song of the Lamb, for he had indeed
cut Rahab and sorely wounded the dragon. Sing unto
the Lord, for he hath triumphed gloriously. The Lord
shall reign for ever and ever, King of kings, and Lord
of lords.
Christ the Bond of Union.— I have often noticed that as
soon as we begin to discourse upon the atoning death
of our divine Lord, we are at home with one another.
There may be brethren present from various churches,
and they may not be well at ease when we handle other
subjects, but when we come to the precious blood we
come to the heart of the matter, and are all at one.
This is one of the secret signs of our spiritual free
masonry. I have had my heart warmed and cheered
against my own will sometimes by devout writers, whose
doctrinal theories I do not believe, and whose church I
could not join, and yet when they write about my Lord
they win my heart. " Aliquid Christi," as one old di
vine used to say: the something of Christ in them awak
ens our affections and draws us nigh. Even books
which are corrupt with sacramentarianism have oc
casionally such a sweet savor of Christ in them that we
20 SPURGEON'S ILLUSTRATIVE ANECDOTES
cannot utterly cast them away, but feel bound very
carefully to pare the apple, and cut out the rotten
places, and remove the objectionable core, for the sake
of the sweet morsels flavored with the love of Christ.
As the sweet honey-bearing flowers attract the bees, so
does the name of Jesus draw all his saints to him, and
so to each other. Give me your hand, my brother, if
you also know my Lord we belong to the same family,
the infallible mark of the redeemed is upon us both.
Christ our Priest.— If her Majesty should give me the
title-deeds of an estate, signing the transfer with her
own hand and seal, I should smile at the lackey who
should kindly offer to add his authority to her Majes
ty's act and deed. Where the word of a king is there is
power, and this is preeminently true where the word of
the King of kings is concerned. I have believed in
Jesus Christ as he is set forth on the authority of God
himself, and who are you, Sir Priest, to come between
me and God?
The Soul's Food and Drink.— Consider, too, that if Christ
be both meat and drink, what need we have of him!
because there is no need in the world, I suppose, that is
greater than the need of meat and drink. You hear the
shout of " Fire ! " in the street, and it startles you ; but
those who have ever heard the cry of " Bread I" in a
bread riot, say that the alarm of " Fire ! " is noth
ing to it. There is something so sharp, so awful,
so determined, so ferocious, so like the yell of wild
beasts, about men and women that scream for bread,
that it is the most awful of sounds. And " Drink ! "
What a word that must be for a number of poor wretches
shut up as they were in the Black Hole of Calcutta,
raving through those little windows at the guard outside
for drink ; and stretching out their hands and beseeching
them to turn their carbines upon them, and shoot them,
CHRIST at
rather than let them die there a lingering death of suffo
cation and thirst! How when a little water was passed
in they fought and struggled for it, if so be a man
might but get a drop, or suck a handkerchief that had
been dipped into it, and linger on a little longer. Now,
nobody can have a greater need than an actual want of
bread and want of water; but that is what you want,
my dear friends who are without Christ; your soul
wants bread and water. Think not that you are rich
and increased in goods if you have not Christ, for in
truth you are naked, and poor, and miserable. If you
do not trust him, love him, serve him, your poor soul
has not even a drop to drink.
Wear Christ's Uniform.— You know how the recruiting
sergeant makes a soldier: not by asking the man to give
him something, but by getting him to take the Queen's
shilling. Take Christ — that is God's enlisting money —
and you are enlisted. Do not bring any thing, but take
the water of life freely. If you will trust the Lord
Jesus, and take him to be your salvation, you are then
enlisted as a soldier of Jesus. Oh! may you have grace
to do that! But recollect, all soldiers have to fight.
One of the first things you will have to do, if you be
come a Christian, is to carry a cross. Ah! you do not
like it. " His yoke is easy, and his burden is light ; n
take it upon you: and yet to carnal shoulders the cross
is very galling, and nothing but grace can make it light.
You will have to give up your sins; you will have to
give up your empty pleasures; you will have henceforth
to bear witness for Christ before a crooked and perverse
generation. Do not think to be Christ's soldier, and yet
not wear his livery. No, you must put on his regi
mentals ; you must wear his crest — his crest is the cross ;
you must take his shield, the shield of faith; and his
sword, which is the sword of the Spirit, the word of
22 SPURGEON'S ILLUSTRATIVE ANECDOTES
God, and resting alone on him, depending alone upon
his merit, you shall certainly win the victory.
Christ in the Dying Hour. — There is a young girl jn
heaven now, once a member of this church. I went with
one of my beloved deacons to see her when she was very
near her departure. She was in the last stage of con
sumption. Fair and sweetly beautiful she looked, and
I think I never heard such syllables as those which fell
from that girl's lips. She had had disappointments,
and trials, and troubles, but all these she had not a word
to say about, except that she blessed God for them;
they had brought her nearer to the Savior. And when
we asked her whether she was not afraid of dying, " No,"
she said, " the only thing I fear is this, 1 am afraid of
living, lest my patience should wear out. I have not
said an impatient word yet, sir; I hope I shall not. It
is sad to be so very weak, but I think if I had my choice,
I would rather be here than be in health, for it is very
precious to me; I know that my Redeemer liveth, and
I am waiting for the moment when he shall send his
chariot of fire to take me up to him." I put the ques
tion, " Have you not any doubts ? " " No, none, sir ;
why should I? I clasp my arms around the neck of
Christ." "And have not you any fear about your
sins?" "No, sir, they are all forgiven; I trust the
Savior's precious blood." " And do you think that
you will be as brave as this when you come actually to
die?" "Not if he leaves me, sir, but he will never
leave me, for he has said, * I will never leave thee nor
forsake thee/"
Sanctuary in Christ.— I saw the other day a remark
able picture, which I shall use as an illustration of the
way of salvation by faith in Jesus. An offender had
committed a crime for which he must die, but it was in
the olden time when churches were considered to be
CHRIST 23
sanctuaries in which criminals might hide themselves
and so escape. See the transgressor — he rushes tow
ards the church, the guards pursue him with their drawn
swords, all athirst for his blood ; they pursue him even to •
the church door. He rushes up the steps, and just as they
are about to overtake him and hew him in pieces on
the threshold of the church, out comes the bishop, and
holding up the crucifix, he cries, . " Back, back ! stain
not the precincts of God's house with blood ! stand back ! "
and the guards at once respect the emblem and stand
back, while the poor fugitive hides himself behind the
robes of the priest. It is even so with Christ. The
guilty sinner flies to the cross — flies straight away to
Jesus, and though Justice pursues him, Christ lifts up
his wounded hands and cries to Justice, " Stand back !
stand back! I shelter this sinner; in the secret place of
my tabernacle do I hide him; I will not suffer him to
perish, for he puts his trust in ,me."
Christ in the Heart a Disinfectant.— Myrrh, again was
used as a disinfectant. When the fever is abroad, we
know people who wear little bags of camphor about
their necks. They may be very good; I do not know.
But the Orientals believed that, in times of pest and
plague, a little bag of myrrh worn between the breasts
would be of essential service to whoever might carry it.
And there doubtless is some power in myrrh to preserve
from infectious disease. Well, brethren, certain I am
it is so with Christ. You have to go into the world,
which is like a great lazar-house; but if you carry Christ
with you, you will never catch the world's disease. A
man may be worth never so much money — he will never
get worldly if he keepeth Christ on his heart. A man
may have to tug and toil for his livelihood, and be very
poor — he will never be discontented and murmuring
if he lives close to Christ. Oh you who have to handle
24 SPURGEON'S ILLUSTRATIVE ANECDOTES
the world, Bee to it that you handle the Master mor*
than the world. Some of you have to work with drunken
and swearing men; others are cast into the midst of
frivolities; oh, take my Master with you! and sin's
plagues can have no influence upon your moral nature.
For Christ's Sake.— I met, in one of Samuel Rutherford's
letters, an extraordinary expression, where he speaks
of the coals of divine wrath all falling upon the head
of Christ, so that not one might fall upon his people.
" And yet," saith he, " if one of those coals should drop
from his head upon mine, and did utterly consume me,
yet if I felt it was a part of the coals that fell on
him, and I was bearing it for his sake, and in communion
with him, I would choose it for my heaven." That is a
strong thing to say, that to suffer with Christ would be his
heaven, if he assuredly knew that it was for and with
Christ that he was suffering. Oh! there is indeed a
heavenliness about suffering for Jesus. His cross hath
such a majesty and mystery of delight in it, that, the
more heavy it becometh, the more lightly doth it sit
upon the believer's shoulders.
Christ Always New.— To-day, stepping in to see a gentle
man, I observed a table which had upon it a great va
riety of objects. I wondered what they were, and took
the liberty of asking him. He told me that he had
some beautiful stereoscopic views there which had been
taken at an immense expense in Egypt, in the Holy
Land, and in all parts of the world; and he showed me
one or two Scriptural subjects which very much inter
ested me. They were certainly preeminently excellent
as works of art. He said, " There, sir, I never get
tired of looking at those things. I could look at them
constantly, and never get tired of them." " Well," I
said, "I quite understand that; they are excellent; for
CHRIST 25
really there is the study of half an hour in this on«
picture; and then one might begin again, it is so full of
beauty, and it seems so true to the original." But I
thought to myself, " Excellent as they are, I think, if
I call to see my friend in a year's time he will tell me
that he has had to buy a fresh lot of views, for he has
been looking at these so often, that he has become alto
gether tired of them. They would have no freshness
to him, because he had seen them so many times. But
mark; the reason why he could look at them so often was
because they were so excellent. If they had been bad
views, if there had not been great skill and great art
bestowed upon them, he would soon have become tired
of looking at them. There are some views in nature
which a man might look at a hundred times, and yet
always wonder at them; but the reason is, because they
are so beautiful. There are other things which might
strike one's eye at first, but which when they are looked
into would lose their freshness, because there would be
no real ground for admiration, because there was no
excellency. But Christ Jesus will always have the dew
of his youth, because he is always so excellent.
Bleating of the Sheep."— If you learn of Jesus you will
have rest from the fear of men. I recollect, before I
came to London, being at a prayer-meeting where a very
quaint brother prayed for me that I might be delivered
from the " bleating of the sheep." I understood it after
awhile, he meant that I might live above the fear of
man, that when such a person said " How much we have
been edified to-day," I might not be puffed up; or if
another said, " How dull the discourse was to-day," I
might not be depressed. You will be delivered from
"the bleating of the sheep" when you have the spirit
of the Good Shepherd.
26 SPURGEON'S ILLUSTRATIVE ANECDOTES
Yoked with Christ.— When bullocks are yoked, there are
generally two. I have watched them in Northern Italy,
and noticed that when two are yoked together, and
they are perfectly agreed, the yoke is always easy to
both of them. If one were determined to lie down and
the other to stand up, the yoke would be very uncom
fortable; but when they are both of one mind you will
see them look at each other with those large, lustrous,
brown eyes of theirs so lovingly, and with a look they
read each other's minds, so that when one wants to lie
down, down they go, or when one wishes to go forward,
forward they both go, keeping step. In this way the
yoke is easy. Now I think the Savior says to us, " I
am bearing one end of the yoke on my shoulder; come,
my disciple, place your neck under the other side of it,
and then learn of me. Keep step with me, be as I am,
do as I do. I am meek and lowly in heart; your heart
must be like mine, and then we will work together in
blessed fellowship, and you will find that working with
me is a happy thing ; for my yoke is easy to me, and will
be to you. Come, then, true yoke-fellow, come and be
yoked with me, take my yoke upon you, and learn of me/'
Christ Grows on the Growing Christian. — Like the trav
eler ascending the Alps to reach the summit of Mont
Blanc; at first he observes that lord of the hills as one
horn among many, and often in the twistings of his
upward path he sees other peaks which appear more
elevated than that monarch of mountains; but when at
last he is near the summit, he sees all the rest of the
hills beneath his feet, and like a mighty wedge of ala
baster Mount Blanc pierces the very clouds. So, as
we grow in grace, other things sink and Jesus rises.
They must decrease, but Christ must increase; until he
alone fills the full horizon of your soul, and rises clear
CHRIST 27
and bright and glorious up into the very heaven of God.
0 that we may thus see " Jesus only ! "
Running Into Christ's Arms.— It was a brave saying of
Martin Luther's, when he said, " I would run into Christ's
arms even if he had a drawn sword in his hand." Now,
he has not a drawn sword, but he has his wounds hi his
hands. Run into his arms, poor sinner. " Oh," you
say, " May I come ? " How can you ask the question ?
you are commanded to come. The great command of
the gospel is, " Believe on the Lord Jesus." Those who
disobey this command disobey God. It is as much a
command of God that man should believe on Christ, as
that we should love our neighbor.
Not Works but Christ.— Remember what that eminent
Scotch divine said, when he was dying. Some one said
to 'him, "What are you doing now?" Said he, "I am
just gathering all my good works up together, and I
am throwing them all overboard; and I am lashing my
self to the plank of free grace, and I hope to swim to
glory on it." So do you do; every day keep your eye
only on Christ; and so long as your eye is single, your
whole body must and shall be full of light. But if
you once look crosseyed, first to yourself and then to
Christ, your whole body shall be full of darkness.
A True Friend.— Young lady, you speak of a dear friend
whom you acquired last night in a ball-room. Do not,
1 beseech you, misuse the word; he is not a friend if he
was acquired merely there; friends are better things
than those which grow in the hot-house of pleasure.
Friendship is a more lasting plant than those. You
have a friend, have you? Yes; and he keeps a pair
of horses, and has a good establishment. Ah! but your
best way to prove your friend is to know that he will
be your friend when you have not so much as a mean
28 SPURGEON'S ILLUSTRATIVE ANECDOTES
cottage, and when, houseless and without clothing, you
are driven to beg your bread. Thus you would make
true proof of a friend. Give me a friend who was born
in the winter time, whose cradle was rocked in the storm ;
he will last. Our fair weather friends shall flfee away
from us. I had rather have a robin for a friend than
a swallow; for a swallow abides with us only in the
summer time, but a robin cometh to us in the winter.
Those are tight friends that will come the nearest to
us when we are in the most distress; but those are not
friends who speed themselves away when ill times come.
Believer, hast thou reason to fear that Christ will leave
you now? Has he not been with you in the house of
mourning1? You found your friend where men find
pearls, " in caverns deep, where darkness dwells ; " you
found Jesus in your hour of trouble. It was on the
bed of sickness that you first learned the value of his
name; it was in the hour of mental anguish that you
first did lay hold of the hem of his garment; and since
then, your nearest and sweetest intercourse has been
held with him in the hours of darkness.
The Elder Brother.— It is saying a great thing to affirm
that " there is a friend that sticketh closer than a
brother ; " for the love of brotherhood has produced
most valiant deeds. We have read stories of what
brotherhood could do, which, we think, could hardly be
excelled in the annals of friendship. Timoleon, with his
shield, stood over the body of his slain brother, to de
fend him from the insults of the foe. It was reckoned
a brave deed of brotherhood that he should dare the
spears of an army in defense of his brother's corpse.
And many such instances have there been, in ancient
and modern warfare, of the attachment of brethren.
There is a story told of a Highland regiment, who, while
marching through the Highlands, lost their way; they
CHRIST ag
were overtaken by one of the terrible storms which will
sometimes come upon travelers unawares, and blinded
by the snow, they lost their way upon the mountains.
Well nigh frozen to death, it was with difficulty they
could continue their march. One man after another
dropped into the snow and disappeared. There were
two brothers, however, of the name of Forsythe; on«
of them fell prostrate on the earth, and would have
lain there to die, but his brother, tho barely able to
drag his own limbs across the white desert, took him
on his back, and carried him along, and as others fell,
one by one, this brave, true-hearted brother carried his
loved on his back until at last he himself fell down over
come with fatigue, and died. His brother, however, had
received such warmth from his body that he was enabled
to reach the end of his journey in safety, and so lived.
Here we have an instance of one brother sacrificing his
life for another. I hope there are some brothers here
who would be prepared to do the same if they should
ever be brought into the same difficulty. It is saying
a great thing, to declare that " there is a friend that
sticketh closer than a brother."
Christ's Tender Care. — A queer thing I once read in an
old book about God's children and people being a part
of Christ and in union with him. The writer says —
" A father sitteth in his room, and there cometh in a
stranger: the stranger taketh up a child on his knee,
and the child hath a sore finger: so he saith, 'My child,
you have a sore finger ; > ' Yes ! ' l Well, let me take it
off, and give thee a golden one ! ' The child looketh at
him and saith, ' I will not go to that man any more, for
he talks of taking off my finger: I love my own finger,
and I will not have a golden one instead of it.' So
the saint saith, ' I am one of the members of Christ, but
SO SPURGEON'S ILLUSTRATIVE ANECDOTES
I am like a sore finger, and he will take me off and put
a golden one on.' ' No/ said Christ, 'No, no; I can not
have any of my members taken away; if the finger be
a sore one, I will bind it up ; I will strengthen it/ "
The Savior. — I had a friend, who, standing by the side
of a piece of frozen water, saw a young lad in it, and
sprang upon the ice in order to save him. After clutch
ing the boy, he held him in his hands and cried out,
" Here he is ! Here he is ! I have saved him." But,
just as they caught hold of the boy, he sank himself,
and his body was not found for some time afterwards,
when he was quite dead. Oh! it is so with Jesus. My
soul was drowning. From heaven's high portals he saw
me sinking in the depths of hell; he, in his supreme
mercy, plunged in:
"He SANK beneath his heavy woes,
To raise me to a crown;
There's ne'er a gift his hand bestows,
But cost his heart a groan."
Ah! we may indeed regret our sin, since it slew Jesus.
Christ Seeking After Sinners.— A friend of mine, who
has been a clergyman in Ireland related it to me himself
as a veritable narrative. A clergyman of an Irish
parish said, that "he went round to visit all his parish
ioners, but," said he, "there was one poor woman in
the parish who had been an abandoned character, and
I dared not go to visit her, because I thought it would
ill become my position, so I passed by. Ah! brother,"
he said, " I know it was an evil pride, or else I should
have gone after the chief of sinners, for the care of
her soul was in some measure committed to my hands."
One day he saw her in church, and he thought he heard
her repeating the responses, and fancied he saw the
CHRIST 31
tears rolling down her cheek. 0 how his bowels yearned
for her soul! He longed to speak with her, but he
dared not. She came there month after month, a con
stant worshiper, and yet he passed by her door and did
not visit her. At last one day she came to the door, and
said, " Sir, I want you ; " he then went in, and she put
out her hand, and taking hold of his, said, " 0, sir ! if
your Master had been in this village half as long as you
have, I am sure he would have been to see me, for I am
the worst sinner in the parish, and therefore I want his
help the most; but tho you have not been to see me,
I know who has said: * This is a faithful saying, and
worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into
the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief.7 "
Christ Pulling at Our Hearts.— Remember that pretty par
able given by one of our ministers, of the boy's kite.
He made it fly aloft: it rose up so high that he could -
no longer see it. Still he said he had a kite, and he
held fast by it. " Boy, how do you know you have a
kite?" "I can feel it pull," said he. This morning
we feel our Jesus pull. He draws us with a far greater
force than a mere string. He is gone into heaven, and
he draws us after him. 0 Lord, draw us with greater
power than ever.
Christ a Victor.— I know of no better theme to stir the
pulses of my soul with holy exultation than the thought
that Jesus is victor. I have heard of wounded men
crushed amid a heap of bleeding bodies lying on the
battle-field, and rousing all the life that remained in
them when they saw the great Napoleon come riding
over the plain. With their legs gone, they raised them
selves upon their arms once more to salute their captain.
Poor souls! to be thus enthusiastic for one who shed
their blood like water; far more wise is our enthusiasm
for him who shed his blood for us. If I knew that I
32 SPURGEON'S ILLUSTRATIVE ANECDOTES
must die in a ditch, and be forgotten or slandered and
abhorred of men, I would yet rejoice and cry "Ho-
sanna " at the prospect of my Lord's sure victory. Yea
I will salute him now with my most hearty praises, and
be glad, because I know that he is even now King of
kings and Lord of lords. Hallelujah! He of whom
they said, " Crucify him, crucify him," is now head
over all.
Christ Ever the Same.— Men in the days of Toplady
looked back to the days of Whitfield; men in the days
of Whitfield looked back to the days of Bunyan; men
in the days of Bunyan wept because of the days of
Wycliffe, and Calvin, and Luther; and men then wept
for the days of Augustine and Chrysostom. Men in
those days wept for the days of the Apostles; and
doubtless men in the days of the Apostles wept for tht
days of Jesus Christ; and no doubt some in the days
of Jesus Christ were so blind as to wish to return to the
days of prophecy, and though more of the days of Elijah
than they did of the most glorious day of Christ. Some
men look more to the past than the present. Rest as
sured, that Jesus Christ is the same to-day as he was yes
terday, and he will be the same for ever.
Christ Seeking the Lost.— "I am lost," said Mr. White-
field's brother to the Countess of Huntington. " I am
delighted to hear it," said the Countess. " Oh," cried he,
"what a dreadful thing to say!" "Nay," said she,
" ' for the Son of man is come to seek and to save that
which was lost ; ' therefore I know he is come to save
you.'' 0 sinner, it would be unreasonable to despair.
The more broken thou art, the more ruined thou art,
the more vile thou art in thine own esteem, so much
the more room is there for the display of infinite mercy
and power.
CHRIST 33
The Humiliation of Christ.— Never was there a poorer
man than Christ; he was the prince of poverty. He was
the reverse of Croasus — he might be on the top of the
hill of riches, Christ stood in the lowest vale of poverty.
Look at his dress, it is woven from the top throughout,
the garment of the poor ! As for his food, he oftentimes
did hunger; and always was dependent upon the charity
of others for the relief of his wants! He who scattered
the harvest o'er the broad acres of the world, had not
sometimes wherewithal to stay the pangs of hunger?
He who digged the springs of the ocean, sat upon a well
and said to a Samaritan woman, " Give me to drink ! "
He rode in no chariot, he walked his weary way, foot
sore, o'er the flints of Galilee ! He had not where to lay
his head. He looked upon the fox as it hurried to its
burrow, and the fowl as it went to its resting-place, and
he said, " Foxes have holes, and the birds of the air
have nests; but I, the Son of man, have not where to
lay my head." He who had once been waited on by
angels, becomes the servant of servants, takes a towel,
girds himself, and washes his disciples' feet! He who
was once honored with the hallelujahs of ages, is now
spit upon and despised! He who was loved by his
Father, and had abundance of the wealth of affection,
could say, "He that eateth bread with me. hath lifted
up his heel against me." Oh, for words to picture the
humiliation of Christ!
No Caste to Christ.— I recollect in Martin Luther's life
that he saw, in one of the Romish churches, a picture
of the Pope, and the cardinals, and bishops, and priests,
and monks, and friars, all on board a ship. They were
all safe, every one of them. As for the laity, poor
wretches, they were struggling in the sea, and many
of them drowning. Only those were saved to whom the
good men in the ship were so kind as to hand out a
34 SPURGEON'S ILLUSTRATIVE ANECDOTES
rope or a plank. That is not our Lord's teaching: his
blood is shed " for many," and not for the few. He
is not the Christ of a caste, or a class, but the Christ of
all conditions of men.
Christ Our Only Resting-PIace.— I spoke to a friend this
week who is sore sick, and I said, " You are resting in
Christ, my brother," He replied^ " I have nothing else
to rest in." I said, " Your hope is in the atoning sacri
fice of Christ," and he answered, "What other hope
could I have?" While we have fifty ways of salvation
we shall be lost; but when we see that "other founda
tion can no man lay than that which is laid, even Jesus
Christ the righteous," then we shall build upon it and be
safe.
Christ the True Physician. — Have you been to Doctor
Ceremony? He is, at this time, the fashionable doc
tor. Has he told you that you must attend to forms
and rules? Has he prescribed you so many prayers,
and so many services? Ah! many go to him, and they
persevere in a round of religious observances, but these
yield no lasting ease to the conscience. Have you tried
Doctor Morality? He has a large practice, and is a fine
old Jewish physician. " Be good in outward character,"
says he, " and it will work inwardly, and cleanse the
heart ! " A great many persons are supposed to have
been cured by him and by his assistant, Doctor Civility,
who is nearly as clever as his master: but I have it on
good evidence that neither of them apart, nor even the
two together, could ever deal with an inward disease.
Do what you may, your own doings will not stanch the
wounds of a bleeding heart. Doctor Mortification has
also a select practice; but men are not saved by denying
themselves until they first deny their self -righteousness.
Doctor Excitement has many patients, but his cures
seldom outlive the set of sun. Doctor Feeling is much
CHRIST 35
sought after by tender spirits; these try to feel sorrow
and remorse; but, indeed, the way of cure does not lie
in that quarter. Let everything be done that can be
done apart from our blessed Lord Jesus Christ, and the
sick soul will be nothing bettered. You may try human
remedies for the space of a lifetime, but sin will remain
in power, guilt will cling to the conscience, and the heart
will abide as hard as ever.
Jesus Belongs to AH Humanity.— I admire the Welch sis
ter who was of opinion that the Lord Jesus must be
Welch. When they asked her how she proved it, she
said that he always spoke to her heart in Welch. Doubt
less it was so, and I can, with equal warmth, declare that
he always speaks to me in English. Brethren from Ger
many, France, Sweden, Italy — you all claim that he
speaks to you in your own tongue.
Christ's Joy in Soul-Saving. — Some of you have been sal
mon fishing in the Scotch rivers; you have fished on and
on until you have hooked a huge fish, and by the time
you have landed him, on taking out your watch, you dis
cover that it is long past your dinner hour, and you are
surprised that you had not noticed that you were almost
faint. Your excitement kept you going: only when it
was over did you begin to hunger. Thus the Master
was so taken up with soul-saving that he had meat to
eat that others knew not of.
Christ's Ownership in His People. — If I possess a love-
token that some dear one has given me, I may rightly
desire to have it with me. Nobody can have such a
right to your wedding-ring, good sister, as you have
yourself; and are not Christ's saints, as it were, a sig
net upon his finger, a token which his Father gave him
of his good pleasure in him? Should they not be with
Jesus where he is, since they are his crown jewels and
his glory? We in our creature love lift up our hands
36 SPURGEON'S ILLUSTRATIVE ANECDOTES
and cry, "My Lord, my Master, let me have this dear
one with me a little longer. I need the companionship
of one so sweet, or life will be misery to me." But if
Jesus looks us in the face, and says, " Is thy right better
than mine ? " we draw back at once. He has a greater
part in his saints than we can have.
Christ the Outcast's Savior. — One said to me the other
day, talking of her sin, and of her repentance, " Yet, sir,
I am an outcast." That word pierced my heart like a
dagger. I said, "Yes, but the Church of Christ was
made on purpose to be a home for outcasts: here is a
new household for you, new brothers and sisters for
you, a new future for you; for now you are one of the
solitary ones whom the Lord in His infinite wisdom, will
set in families."
Overpowering Love of Christ. — " They shall fear and
tremble for all the goodness and for all the prosperity
that I procure unto it." The words are true to the
letter. Take a case: Peter went a fishing; and if he
had caught a few fish, his boat would have floated high
on the lake; but when the Master came into the boat
and told him where to throw the net so that he pulled
up a multitude of fish, then the little barque began to
sink. Down, down, it went, and poor Peter went down
with it, till he fell at Jesus' feet and cried, "Depart
from me; for I am a sinful man, 0 Lord." He was con
fused and overwhelmed, or he would never have asked
the blessed Master to leave him: Christ's goodness had
fairly beaten him till he was afraid of his Benefactor.
Know ye not what it is to be weighted down with infin
ite goodness, oppressed with mercy, swept away by an
avalanche of love. I, at least, know what it means, and
I know of no experience which has made me so little in
mine own eyes.
CHRIST 37
Christ as Engraver.- - 1 was surprised when I was told, the
other day, by a friend, who was a maker of steel-plate
engravings, how much of labor had to be put into a
finely-executed engraving. Think of the power that has
cut lines of beauty in such steel as we are! Think of
the patience that lent its arm, and its eye, and its heart,
and its infinite mind, to the carrying on of the supreme
work of producing the image of Christ in those who were
born in sin! Think of the skill which makes heirs of
God out of heirs of wrath !
The Lost Child. — If you have ever been in a house with
a mother and father, and daughters and sons, when a
little child has been lost, you will never forget the agi
tation of each member of the household. See the father
as he goes to the police-station, and calls at every likely
house, for he must find his child or break his heart. See
the deep oppression and bitter anguish of the mother;
she is like one distracted till she has news of her darling.
You now begin to understand what Jesus feels for one
whom he loves, who is graven on the palms of his
hands, whom he looked upon in the glass of his fore
knowledge, when he was bleeding his life away upon the
tree; he hath no rest in his spirit till his beloved is
found. He hath compassion like a God, and that doth
transcend all the compassion of parents or of brothers,
— the compassion of an infinite heart brimming over with
an ocean of love. This one thought moves the pity of
the Lord — " if he lose one of them."
The Seeking Shepherd.— -A son is taken ill far away
from home. He is laid sick with a fever, and a telegram
is sent home. His mother says she must go and nurse
him; she is wretched till she can set out upon the
journey. It is a dreary place where her boy lies, but
for the moment it is the dearest spot on earth to her.
She joys to leave the comforts of her home to tarry
38 SPURGEON'S ILLUSTRATIVE ANECDOTES
among strangers for the love of her boy. She feels
an intense joy in sacrificing herself; she refuses to
retire from the bedside, she will not leave her charge;
she watches day and night, and only from utter exhaus
tion does she fall asleep. You could not have kept her
in England, she would have been too wretched. It was
a great, deep, solemn pleasure for her to be where she
could minister to her own beloved. Soul, remember
you have given Jesus great joy in his saving you. He
was forever with the Father, eternally happy, infinitely
glorious, as God over all; but yet he must needs come
hither out of boundless love, take upon himself our na
ture, and suffer in our stead to bring us back to holi
ness and God. " He layeth it on his shoulders rejoicing."
That day the shepherd knew but one joy. He had found
his sheep, and the very pressure of it upon his shoulders
made his heart light, for he knew by that sign that the
object of his care was safe beyond all question.
The True Shepherd.— " The sheep follow him, for they
know his voice; and a stranger will they not follow, for
they know not the voice of strangers." I remember
hearing a brother tell how he disproved the notion that
sheep only know the shepherd by his dress. When in
Palestine he asked a shepherd to allow him to put on
his clothes. Then he began to call the sheep, but never
a one would come, not even a lamb. The most sheep
ish of the flock had sense enough left to know that he
was not the shepherd, and even the youngest kept aloof,
heedless of the stranger's voice. He might have called
till he was hoarse, but they would not come. So God's
people know their Lord, and they know the kind of food
which he gives them.
Christ the Plant of Renown. — Did you ever hear the leg
end of a man whose garden produced nothing else but
weeds, till at last he met with a strange foreign flower
CHRIST 39
of singular vitality. The story is that he sowed a hand
ful of this seed in his overgrown garden, and left it to
work its own sweet way. He slept and rose, and knew
not how the seed was growing till on a day he opened
the gate and saw a sight which much astounded him.
He knew that the seed would produce a dainty flower
and he looked for it; but he had little dreamed that the
plant would cover the whole garden. So it was: the
flower had exterminated every weed, till as he looked
from one end to the other from wall to wall he could
see nothing but the fair colors of that rare plant, and
smell nothing but its delicious perfume. Christ is that
plant of renown. If he be sown in the soil of your
soul, he will gradually eat out the roots of all ill weeds
and poisonous plants, till over all your nature there
shall be Christ in you.
Christ as King. — Christ in us is Christ reigning. It re
minds me of Mr. Bunyan's picture of Mansoul, when
the Prince Immanuel laid siege to it, and Diabolus from
within the city strove to keep him out. It was c, hard
time for Mansoul then; but when at last the battering
rams had broken down the gates, and the silver trum
pets sounded, and the prince's captains entered the
breach, then on a day the prinea himself did ride down
the city's streets, while liberated citizens welcomed him
with all their hearts, hung out all their streamers, and
made the church towers rock again as the bells rang out
merry peals, for the king himself was come. Up to the
castle of the heart he rode in triumph, and took his royal
throne to be henceforth the sole lord and king of the
city. Christ in you is a right royal word. Christ
swaying his scepter from the center of your being over
every power and faculty, desire and resolve, bringing
every thought into captivity to himself, oh, this is glory
begun, and the sure pledge of heaven. Oh for more
40 SPURGEON'S ILLUSTRATIVE ANECDOTES
of the imperial sovereignty of Jesus; it is our liberty
to be absolutely under his sway.
Christ the Sinner's Only Physician.— Suppose that a man
has heard of a great physician who understands his com
plaint. Ha has travelled a great many miles to see this
celebrated doctor; but when he gets to the door they tell
him that he is out. " Well," says he, " then I must wait
till he is in." "You need not wait," they reply, "his
assistant is at home." The suffering man, who has
been often disappointed, answers, " I do not care about
his assistant, I want to see the man himself: mine is a
desperate case, but I have heard that this physician has
cured the like; I must, therefore, see him. No assistants
for me." "Well," say they, "he is out; but there are
his books ; you can see his books." " Thank you," he
says, "I cannot be content with his books, I want the
living man and nothing less. It is to him that I must
speak, and from him I will receive instructions." "Do
you see that cabinet? " " Yes." " It is full of his med
icines." The sick man answers, "I dare say they are
very good, but they are of no use to me without the
doctor: I want their owner to prescribe for me, or I
shall die of my disease." " But see," cries one, " here
is a person who has been cured by him, a man of great
experience, who has been present at many remarkable
operations. Go into the inquiry-room with him, and
he will tell you all about the mode of cure." The af
flicted man answers, " I am much obliged to you, but all
your talk only makes me long the more to see the doc
tor. I came to see him, and I am not going to be put
off with anything else. I must see the man himself,
for myself. He has made my disease a specialty; he
knows how to handle my case, and I will stop till I see
him."
Now, dear friends, if you are seeking Christ, imitate
CHRIST 41
this sick man, or else you may be sure you will miss the
mark altogether.
Christ Inspires Enthusiasm. — When great commanders are
known to have come into a camp what a thrill of joy
it causes among their trusty warriors. When the soldiers
have been much dejected it has been whispered in their
tents —
" The king has come to marshal us,
All in his armor dressed,"
and from that moment every man has cheered up. At
the sight of the king as he comes riding into the camp
the host raises a great shout. What means it? It is
a shout of loyal love — they are glad to welcome their
leader. So is it with us when we sing —
"The King himself comes near,"
we are all as glad as glad can be. Those who cannot
come out to see their prince, because they are lying on
their sick beds in hospital, clap their hands, while even
the little children in their mothers' arms join in the
general joy. " The king is come," say they, and his
presence kindles their enthusiasm till they make the
hills ring again. You know how the stern Ironsides
felt when Cromwell came along; every man was a hero
when he led the way. They were ready for any ad
venture, no matter how difficult, as long as their great
chief was there. That enthusiasm which was inspired
by Alexander, and by Napoleon, and by other great
commanders, is the earthly image of the spiritual fervor
felt by the church when the Lord Jesus vouchsafes to be
in the midst of it.
Christ's Delight in His People.— When Cyrus took the
Greek ambassador through his garden, he challenged
him to admire its charms. The Spartan approved all
43 SPURGEON'S ILLUSTRATIVE ANECDOTES
he saw, but still his admiration was cool and critical.
" This garden," said its master, " yields me more pleasure
and satisfaction than you can imagine or I can express.'1
" And why ? " asked the visitor. " Because," replied Cy
rus, "I planted every tree in it myself. I planned all
the paths, and all the flowers have I reared. No hand
but mine has dug the soil, tended the plants, pruned the
trees, or done aught beside but my own." His toil and
his trouble thus endeared the place to the king. So,
truly, Christ can say when he looks upon his people,
" There is a fruitful bough there : I pruned that. He
was sick, long laid aside from business, he feared his
family would be starved: I was pruning him then; but
I love the fruit that is on him because I know how it
came there. That plant yonder which is blooming now
and shedding such a sweet perfume of love, well do I
recollect when it was drooping and ready to die. I came
and watered it. She, timid disciple, would say, l Blessed
be the gentle hand that shed the dew and poured nour
ishment on my poor, parched, and withered root ! "
Yes, the Savior gives us " grace for grace " that we may
produce grace. I leave the thought with you for medi
tation, and the issues for your edification, only praying
earnestly that his Holy Spirit may work in you " grace
for grace."
Christ Sufficient for AH Kinds of Sinners.— A worthy,
consistent, industrious woman was married to a low,
worthless, dissipated husband. Both of them, however,
were alike ignorant of the gospel. They came together
to the house of prayer; they heard together the tidings
of mercy; they each believed, and each of them received
the Savior, and they both were saved the same way;
they both found mercy on the same terms. To the rich,
free, sovereign grace of God they vied with one another
in ascribing the praise.
CHRIST 43
Christ as a Ferry-Man. — A negro was once sent by his
master on an errand that did not suit him; he did not
want to go. So when he came to a river he turned back,
and said, " Master, I came to a river, and I could not
swim across it." "Well, but was there not a ferry
boat?" "Yes, there was a ferry-boat, but the man
was on the other side." " Well," said the master, " did
you call to the ferry-man to come and take you across? "
No, he did not think of doing that, for, as he did not wish
to go over, he was glad to find an excuse. Now, it is
true, sinner, that you cannot save yourself, but there is
One who can. There is a ferry-boat and there is a
Ferry -man. Cry to him ! Cry to him,— " Master, across
this river be pleased to take me; I cannot swim it, but
thou canst bear me over it. Oh ! do for me what I can
not do for myself! Make me to be accepted in the Be
loved ! " If you seek the Lord he will be found of you.
Christ the Door. — I read a story the other day of some
Russians crossing wide plains studded over here and there
with forests. The villages were ten or a dozen miles
from each other, the wolves were out, the horses were
rushing forward madly, the travelers could hear the
baying of the wolves behind them; and, tho the
horses tore along with all speed, yet the wolves were fast
behind, and they only escaped, as we say, "by the skin
of their teeth," managing just to get inside some hut
that stood in the road, and to shut-to the door. Then
they could hear the wolves leap on the roof; they
could hear them dash against the sides of the hut;
they could hear them gnawing at the door, and howling,
and making all sorts of dismal noises; but the travelers
were safe, because they had entered in by the door, and
the door was shut. Now, when a man is in Christ, he
can hear, as it were, the devils howling like wolves, all
fierce and hungry for him ; and his own sins, like wolves^
44 SPURGEON'S ILLUSTRATIVE ANECDOTES
are seeking to drag him down to destruction. But ht
has got in to Christ, and that is such a shelter that all
the devils hi the world, if they were to come at once,
could not start a single beam of that eternal refuge: it
must stand fast, tho the earth and heaven should
pass away. Now, to every man and woman Christ says
that if they have entered in by the door, they shall be
saved.
Suffering for Christ.— There was a certain king whose son
was sent upon an errand to a far country, and when he
came into that country, altho he was the lawful prince
of it, he found that the citizens would not acknowledge
him. They mocked at him, jested at him, and took him
and set him in the pillory, and there they scoffed at him
and pelted him with filth. Now, there was one in that
country who knew the prince, and Le clone stood up for
him when all the mob was in tumult raring against him.
And when they set him on high as an object of scorn,
this man stood side by side with him to wipe the filth
from that dear royal face; and when from cruel hands
missiles in scorn were thrown, this mm took his full
share ; and whenever he could lie thrust Limself before the
prince to ward off the blows from him if possible, and
to bear the scorn instead of him. Now it came to pass
that after awhile the prince went on his way, and in due
season the man who had been the prince's friend was
called to the king's palace. And on a day when all the
princes of the court were round about, and the peers
and nobles of the land were sitting in their places, the
king came to his throne and he called for that man, and
he said, "Make way, princes and nobles! Make way!
Here is a man more noble than you all, for he stood
boldly forth with my son when he was scorned and
scoffed at! Make way, I say, each one of you, for he
shall sit at my right hand with my own son. As he
CHRIST 45
took a share of his scorn, he shall now take a share of
his honor." And there sat princes and nobles who
wished that they had been there, ay ! envied the man who
had been privileged to endure scorn and scoffing for the
prince's sake! You need not that I interpret the par
able. May you make angels envious of you, if envy can
ever pierce their holy minds. You can submit for
Christ's sake to sufferings which it is not possible for
seraphim or cherubim to endure.
Christ the Root.— I like that story of the Sandwich Island
ers who had been converted through some of our mis
sionaries, and the Gospel had been preached to them for
years. At last, two or three gentlemen in long black
gowns landed there, and the people asked them what
they had come for. They said they were come to in
struct them in the true faith, and to teach them. Well,
they said, they should be glad to hear it. If their teach
ing was true, and like the Scriptures, they would listen
to them. By and by, a little diagram was exhibited
to the natives after the similitude of a tree. This tree
had many branches. The twigs which were farthest of.!
were the different saints, the believers, those who do good
works; then the limbs, which were a little larger, were
the priests; the bigger boughs were bishops; the biggest
boughs were the cardinals; and, at last, these all joined
on to the trunk, which was the Pope, and that went all
the way down to the bottom, till it came to Peter, who
was the root, deriving his authority immediately from
Christ. So the natives asked about all these twigs, and
branches, and specially about certain rotten branches
that were tumbling off into a fire. What were they?
They were Luther, and Calvin, and other heretics who
had been cut off from the true tree of the church.
" Well," said one of the islanders, " and pray what is
the root of the tree?" Of course? that was allowed to
46 SPURGEON'S ILLUSTRATIVE ANECDOTES
be Jesus Christ. So they clapped their hands at once
for joy, and said, " Never mind about the branches, and
stems, and twigs; we have never heard of them, but
we have got the root, and that will do to grow on." In
like manner, brethren, we can say to-night, if we have
got Christ, we have got " the root out of the dry ground."
We have got the root of the matter, the basis, the sum,
the substance of it.
" Let others trust what forms they please,
Their hopes we'll not contest."
Christ Grows on His Disciples. — So, when we were car
nal, and did not know King Jesus, we esteemed him to
be very much like anybody else, but now we begin to
know him, we find out that he is much greater, infinitely
greater than we thought he was. And as we grow in
grace, we find him to be more glorious still. A little
star to our view at first, he has grown in our estimation
into a sun now, a blazing sun, by whose beams our soul
is refreshed. Ah! but when we get near to him, what
will he be*? Imagine yourself borne up on an angel's
wing to take a journey to a star. Traveling at an in
conceivable rate you open your eyes on a sudden and say
— " How wonderful ! Why, that which was a star just
now has become as large to my vision, as the sun at
noon-day." " Stop," says the angel ; " you shall see
greater things than these," and, as you speed on, the disc
of that orb increases, till it is equal to a hundred suns;
and now you say, " But what f " Am I not near it
now?" "No," says the angel, "that enormous globe is
still far, far away," and when you come to it, you would
find it to be such a wondrous world, that arithmetic could
not compute its size; scarcely could imagination belt it
with the zone of fancy. Now, such is Jesus Christ. I
said he grows upon his people here, but what must
CHRIST 47
it be to see him there, where the veil is lifted, and we be
hold him face to face?
Christ the Pole Star.— There are some of the stars that
are extremely useful to sailors. I scarcely know how else
the great wide sea would be navigated, especially if it
were not for the Polar Star. Jesus is the Polar Star to
us. How the poor negro in the olden times, when the
curse of slavery had not been taken away, must have
blessed God for that pole star — so easy to find out.
Any child with but a moment's teaching will soon know
how to discover it in the midst of its fellows at night,
and when the negro had once learned to distinguish the
star that shone over the land of freedom, how he followed
it through the great dismal swamps, or along the plains
which were more dreadful still; how he could ford the
streams, and climb the mountains, always cheered by the
sight of that pole star. Such is Jesus Christ to the
seeker. He leads to liberty; he conducts to peace. Oh!
I wish you would follow him, some of you who are go
ing about a thousand ways to find peace where you will
never find it. There is never a Sunday but I try to
speak, sometimes in gentler tones, and at other seasons
with thundering notes, the simple truth that Jesus Christ
came into the world to save shiners. I do try to make
it plain to you that it is not your prayers and tears, your
doings, your willings, your anything, that can save you,
but that all your help is laid upon one that is mighty,
and that you must look alone to him. Yet, sinners, you
are still looking to yourselves. You rake the dung hills
of your human nature to find the pearl of great price
which is not there. You will look beneath the ice of
your natural depravity to find the flame of comfort
which is not there. You might as well seek in hell itself
to find heaven as look to your own works and merits to
find some ground of trust. Down with them! Down
48 SPURGEON'S ILLUSTRATIVE ANECDOTES
with them, every one of them ! Away with all these con
fidences of yours, for
"None but Jesus, none but Jesus,
Can do helpless sinners good."
Just reverse that helm; and shift that sail, and tack
about! Follow not the wrecker's beacon on yonder
shore luring you to the rocks of self-delusion, but where
that pole star guides, thither let your vessel drift, and
pray for the favoring gales of the blessed Spirit to guide
you rightly to the port of peace.
Christ Our Banner.— The banner was ever a source of
consolation to the wounded. There he lies, the good
knight; right well has he fought without fear and with
out reproach; but a chance arrow pierced the joints of
his harness, and his life is oozing out from the ghastly
wound. There is no one there to unbuckle his helmet
or give him a draught of cooling water; his frame is
locked up in that hard case of steel, and tho he feels the
smart he cannot gain the remedy, He hears the cries, the
mingled cries, the hoarse shouts of men that rush in
fury against their fellows : and he opens his eyes — as
yet he has not fainted with his bleeding. Where, think
you, does he look? He turns himself round. What is
he looking for? For friend? For comrade? No.
Should they come to him he would say, " Just lift me
up, and let me sit against that tree awhile, and bleed
here; but go you to the fight." Where, where is that
• restless eye searching, and what is the object for which
it is looking? Yes, he has it; and the face of the dying
man is brightened. He sees the banner still waving, and
with his last breath he cries, " On ! on ! on ! " and falls
asleep content, because the banner is safe. It has not
been cast down. Tho he has fallen, yet the banner is se
cure. Even so every true soldier of the cross rejoices in
CHRIST 49
its triumph. We fall, but Christ does not. We die,
but the cause prospers. As I have told you before,
when my heart was most sad — sad as if never was before
nor since — that sweet text, " Him hath God the Father
exalted, and given him a name that is above every name,"
quite cheered my soul, and set me again in peace and
comfort.
Christ the Center of Attack.— Whenever the old Knights of
the Red Cross fought the Saracens they always endeav
ored to make their steel ring upon the helmet of men
whose hand held the crescent, the standard of Moham
med; ever the fight was bloodiest around the standard. *
Sometimes, when the battle was over, if you walked the
field you would see it strewn with legs and arms and
mangled bodies everywhere. In one place there would
be a heap where they were piled one upon another, a
great mountain of flesh and armor, broken bones and
smashed skulls, and you would ask, " What is this? How
came they here? How trampled they so one upon
another, and fought in pools of human blood?" The
answer would be, " ;Twas there the standard-bearer stood,
and first the adversary made a dash and stole the ban
ner, and then fifty knights vowed to redeem it, and
they dashed against their foes and took it by storm, and
then again hand to hand they fought with the banner
between them, first in one hand and then in another,
changing ownership each hour. Well, dear friends,
we must remember that Christ Jesus has always been the
object of attack.
Christ our Guide.— When Mr. Andrew Fuller was going
to preach before an association, he rode to the meeting
on his horse. There had been a good deal of rain, and
the rivers were very much swollen. He got to one river
which he had to cross. He looked at it, and he was half
afraid of the strong current, as he did not know the
50 SPURGEON'S ILLUSTRATIVE ANECDOTES
depth. A fanner, who happened to be standing by,
said —"It is all right, Mr. Fuller; you will get through
it all right, sir; the horse will keep its feet." Mr. Fuller
went in, and the water got up to the girth, and then
up to the saddle, and he began to get uncomfortably wet.
Mr. Fuller thought he had better turn round, and he
was going to do so, when the same farmer shouted —
" Go on, Mr. Fuller ; go on ; I know it is all right ; "
and Mr. Fuller said, " Then I will go on ; I will go by
faith." Now, sinner, it is very like that with you. You
think that your sins are too deep, that Christ will never
be able to carry you over them ; but, I say to you — It
is all right, sinner; trust Jesus, and he will carry you
thro hell itself, if it were needful and possible. If you
had all the sins of all the men that have ever lived, and
they were all yours, if you could trust him, Jesus Christ
would carry you through the current of all that sin. It
is all right, man! Only trust Christ. The river may
be deep, but Christ's love is deeper still. It is all right,
man! Do not let the devil make you doubt my Lord
and Master. He is a liar from the beginning, and the
father of lies, but my Master is faithful and true. Rest
on him and it is all right. Herein lies the supreme con
solation of this earthly life.
Loyalty to Christ.— Dr. Payson had once been out to tea
with one of his people, who had been particularly hos
pitable to him, and when he was going, the doctor said : —
" Well, now, Madam, you have treated me exceedingly
well, but how do you treat my Master ? " That is a
question I should like to put to some of you. How do
you treat my Master? Why, you treat him as if he
were not Christ, as if you did not want him. But, you
do need him. May you find him soon, for when you come
to die, you will want him then, and perhaps then you
may not find him.
CHRIST 51
Christ Trustworthy.— There came to me the other day a
young man who wished to speak with me about his soul
troubles, and he began thus, " Dear sir, I cannot trust
Christ." To which I answered, "Have you found out
something fresh in his character? Has he ceased to be
trustworthy? Pray let me know all about it, for it is a
serious matter to me; I have trusted him with everything
I have for time and for eternity, and if he is not fit to
be trusted I am in a terrible case." He looked at me,
and he said, "I will not say that again, sir; I see I
have made a mistake. Truly the Lord Jesus is in every
way trustworthy." "Well, then," I said, "Why can
not you trust him?" I left him with that unanswerable
question. A man is certainly able to trust one whom
he regards as trustworthy. My young friend saw that
at once, and asked me further : " But may I trust Christ
to save me? Am I permitted to trust my soul with
him?" I said to him, "Is not this the command of the
gospel: Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou
shalt be saved? And are you not warned that if you
do not believe in him you will be damned? How can
we doubt that we are permitted to do that which is com
manded us of the Lord? I am to preach the gospel
to every creature, and this is the gospel:— "Believe on
the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved ! " He
said, " So, then, if I trust Christ, he will save me?" and
I replied, " Certainly he will ; he is the Savior of all
them that put their trust in him. He says, ' Him that
cometh to me I will in no wise cast out/ It is written,
1 He that believeth on him hath everlasting life ; ' he
that trusts in Jesus is saved." He thanked me, and
saying that he had found out the secret, he went on his
way rejoicing. I told him the gospel; he received it; and
he entered into rest.
52 SPURGEON'S ILLUSTRATIVE ANECDOTES
Christ Bringing Men Back.— Ah! we cannot always tell
when we are driving poor souls away from Christ
Often, when we think we are wooing we are driving
them away; when we would be winning to the Savior,
some harsh expression of ours frightens sinners away
from him. Ah! poor soul, hast thou been driven awayf
Dost thou understand and sympathize with what I have
said? Before I knew the Lord, I could declare that I
was driven away. Once, under a powerful sermon, my
heart shook within me, and was dissolved in the midst
of my bowels; I thought I would seek the Lord, and I
bowed my knee and wrestled, and poured out my heart
before him. I ventured within his sanctuary to hear his
word, hoping that in some favored hour he would send
a precious promise to my consolation; but, ah! that
wretched afternoon I heard a sermon wherein Christ was
not; I had no longer any hope. I would have sipped
at that fountain, but I was driven away; I felt that I
would have believed in Christ, and I longed and sighed
for him. But, ah ! that dreadful sermon and those dread
ful things that were uttered; my poor soul knew not
what was truth, or what was error; but I thought the
man was surely preaching the truth, and I was driven
back. I dared not go, I could not believe, I could not
lay hold on Christ; I was shut out, if no one else was.
Ts there some one here who has been driven away? I may
have done it, and I will weep before God in secret on
account of it. But let me cheer you. Hear this : " I
will bring again that which was driven away." As surely
as you ever did come once you will be brought back
again; that heavenly hour shall once more return; that
blessed day shall dawn afresh; Christ shall appear, and
his love and mercy shall be bestowed on you. He has
drawn you once and he will draw you again, for God
never fails. He may, for wise ends and purposes, suf-
CHRIST 53
fer you to be driven away once; but he will ultimately
bring you to himself, for he has said, " I will bring
again that which was driven away."
Immediate Healing. — We love the physician who heals
speedily. If you find a skillful physician who can heal
you of a sad disease even in years, you go to him, and
are thankful. But suppose some wondrous man who
with a touch could heal you, who with the very glance
of his eyes could make you well at once, and stanch that
blood or stop that disease, or turn aside that evil thing
and make you well, would you not go to him, and feel
that he was a great physician indeed? So with Christ.
There shall be a man standing there with all his sins
upon his head, and he may yet go down these stairs just,
complete in Christ, without a sin, freed from its damning
power, delivered from all his guilt and iniquity, in one
single instant! It is a marvelous thing, beyond our
power and comprehension. It is done in an instant.
God stamps it; the man is pardoned. He goes away in
that same instant justified, as the publican did when he
said, "Lord, have mercy upon me, a sinner," and re
ceived the mercy for which he sued.
Christ the Only Ark of Safety.— Some animals, like the
camelopard, whose heads are higher than other animals,
might have to bow their necks to go in by the same
entrance as the waddling ducks, who naturally stoop,
even as they enter a ba"rn; and so, some of the lofty
ones of this world must bend down their stiff necks, and
bow their proud heads, if they would enter into the
church by Christ. Thus, again, the swift horse and the
slow-paced snail must enter by one door; so, too, the
scribes and pharisees must come in the same way as the
publicans and harlots, or be for ever excluded.
All the beasts God had chosen went in by the one door
and if any had stood without, and said, "We shall not
54 SPURGEON'S ILLUSTRATIVE ANECDOTES
oome in that way," they would have been standing with
out till the flood overtook and destroyed them; for there
was only one door. There is only one way of salvation,
and there is only one means of getting into it. " Believe
on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved," but
" he that believeth not," whoever he be, must " be
damned." There is no hope of any other way of salva
tion. He that cometh in by the door shall be saved;
and Jesus saith, " I am the door."
CHRISTIANS
Prosperity Dangerous.— Ships never strike on rocks out
in the great deeps. Children, perhaps, may fancy that
a shallow sea is the safest, but an old/ sailor knows bet
ter. While he is off the Irish coast the captain has to
keep a good look out, but while he is crossing the At
lantic he is in far less danger. There he has plenty of
sea-room, and there is no fear of quicksands or of shoals.
When the sailor enters the Thames he encounters first
one sand bank and then another, and he is in danger, but
out in the deep water, where he finds no bottom, he is
but little afraid. So, mark you, in the judgments of God.
When he is dealing out affliction to us it is the safest
possible sailing that a Christian can have. " What,"
says one, "trial safe?" Yes, very safe. The safest
part of a Christain's life is the time of his trial. " What,
when a man is down do you say he is safe ? " Yes, for
then he need fear no fall; when he is low he need fear
no pride; when he is humbled under God's hand then
he is less likely to be carried away with every wind of
temptation. Smooth water on the way to heaven is al
ways a sign that the soul should keep wide awake, for
danger is near. One comes at last to feel a solemn
dread creeping over one in times of prosperity. " Thou
shalt fear and tremble because of all the good that God
CHRISTIANS 55
shall make to pass before thee," fearing not BO much
lest the good should depart as lest we should make an
ill use of it, and should have a canker of sloth, or self-
confidence, or worldliness growing up in our spirits. We
have seen many professed Christians make shipwreck, in
some few instances it has been attributable to overwhelm
ing sorrow, but in ten cases to the one it has been at
tributable to prosperity.
The Idle Christian a Hindrance. — Many church members
think that if they do nothing wrong, and make no
trouble, then they are all right. Not at all, sir; not at
all. Here is a chariot, and we are all engaged to drag
it. Some of you do not put out your hands to pull;
well, then, the rest of us have to labor so much the more ;
and the worst of it is we have to draw you also. While
you do not add to the strength which draws, you in
crease the weight that is to be drawn. It is all very well
for you to say, " But I do not hinder ; " you do hinder,
you cannot help hindering. If a man's leg does not help
him in walking, it certainly hinders him.
The Righteous Safe. — A certain carping infidel, after hav
ing argued with a poor countryman who knew the faith,
but who knew little else, said to him, " Well, Hodge, you
really are so stupid that there is no use of arguing with
you, I cannot get you out of this absurd religion of
yours." " Ah ! well," said Hodge, " I dare say I am
stupid, master, but do you know we poor people like
to have two strings to our bow ? " " Well," said the
critic, "what do you mean by that?" "Master, Til
show you. Suppose it should all turn out as you say;
suppose there is no God, and there is no hereafter, don't
you see I am as well off as you are? Certainly, it will
not be any worse for me than it will be for you, if we
both of us get annihilated. But don't you see if it should
happen to be true as I believe, what will become of
56 SPURGEON'S ILLUSTRATIVE ANECDOTES
you! " Clearly in either case it must be right with the
righteous; for if he should have ignorantly received a
cunningly devised fable, yet, seeing according to his own
experience, it makes him a better and a happier man, so
far so good — he is no loser here ; and he will be cer
tainly at the last in no worse a position than the man
who rejected the holy and comfortable influences of what
he styled a deception. While, if the religion of Jesus
should be true — ah ! ghastly IF for you who doubt it? —
if it should all be true, ah ! then your weeping and your
wailing at the discovery will be a terrible contrast to the
joy and glory which God has reserved for them that love
him. Upon the very lowest possible ground it will be well
with the righteous, as well at any rate as with the best
of other men.
Impressions Easily Wear Away. — I stood once by the side
of a poor boy, whom I had taught as a Sunday-school
teacher; he had received very little good training at
home, and tho he was but a lad of seventeen, he became
a drunkard and drank himself to death at one debauch.
I saw him, and talked to him, and tried to point him
to the Savior, and heard at last the death-throttle in his
throat, and as I went down stairs I thought everybody
a fool for doing anything except preparing to die. I
began to look upon the men who drove the carts in the
streets the men who were busy at their shops, and those
who were selling their wares, as being all foolish for
doing anything except their eternal business, and myself
most of all foolish for not pointing dying sinners to a
living Christ, and inviting them to trust in his precious
blood. And yet, in an hour all things took their usual
shape, and I began to think that I was not dying after
all, and I could go away and be, I fear, as heartless as
before.
CHRISTIANS 57
Perseverance. — How do I know the winner at the foot
race? There are the spectators, and there are the run
ners. What strong men ! what magnificent muscles ! what
thews and sinews! Yonder is the goal; and there it is
that I must judge who is the winner: not here, at the
starting-point; for "They which run in a race run all,
but one receiveth the prize." I may select this one, or
that other person, as likely to win, but I cannot be abso
lutely sure until the race is over. There they fly! See
how they press forward, with straining muscles! But
one has tripped, another faints, a third is out of breath,
and others are far behind. One only wins — and who
is he? Why, he who continued to the end. So I may
gather from the analogy, which Paul constantly allows
us, from the ancient games, that only he who continueth
till he reaches the goal may be accounted a Christian at
all. A ship starts on a voyage to Australia: if it stops
at Madeira, or returns after reaching the Cape, would
you consider that it ought to be called an emigrant ship
for New South Wales? It must go the whole voyage,
or it does not deserve the name. A man has begun to
build a house, and has erected one side of it: do you
consider him a builder if he stops there, and fails to
cover it in or to finish the other walls? Do we give
men praise for being warriors because they know how
to make one desperate charge, but lose the campaign?
Have we not, of late, smiled at the boasting despatches
of commanders, in fights where both combatants fought
with valor, and yet neither of them had the common
sense to push on to reap the victory? What was the
very strength of Wellington, but that, when a triumph
had been achieved, he knew how to reap the harvest
which had been sown in blood? And he only is a true
conqueror, and shall be crowned at the last, who con
tinueth till war's trumpet is blown no more. It is
58 SPURGEON'S ILLUSTRATIVE ANECDOTES
with a Christian as it was with the great Napoleon:
he said, " Conquest has made me what I am, and con
quest must maintain me." So, under God, conquest has
made you what you are, and conquest must sustain
you. Your motto must be, " Excelsior ; " or, if it be
not, you have not learned the noble spirit of God's
princes.
Did Not Really Wish to Die. — A missionary told me the
story of an old negro woman in Jamaica who used to be
continually singing, " Angel Gabriel, come and take Aunty
Betsy home to glory," but when some wicked wag knocked
at the door at the dead of night, and told her the angel
Gabriel was come for Aunty Betsy, she said, " She lives
next door." I am afraid it may possibly be so with us,
that though we think we wish the waves of Jordan to
divide that we may be landed on the other shore, we linger
on the bank shivering still.
The Christian's Secret.— I have looked at this rest after
rest as being a treasure concealed in a precious box. The
Lord Jesus give to his people a priceless casket, called
the gift of rest; it is set with brilliants and inlaid with
gems, and the substance thereof is of wrought gold ; who
soever possesses it feels and knows that his warfare is
accomplished and his sin is pardoned. After awhile the
happy owner begins to examine his treasure. It is all
his own, but he has not yet seen it all, for one day he
detects a secret drawer, he touches a hidden spring, and
lo! before him lies a priceless Koh-i-noor surpassing all
the rest. It had been given him it is certain, but he had
not seen it at first, and therefore he finds it. Jesus Christ
gives us in the gift of himself all the rest we can enjoy,
even heaven's rest lies in him; but after we have received
him we have to learn his value, and find out by the teach
ing of his Spirit the fulness of the rest which he bestows.
CHRISTIANS 39
Vagrant Thoughts. — I remember a certain narrow and
crooked lane in a certain country town, along which I
was walking one day, while I was seeking the Savior. On
a sudden the most fearful oaths that any of you can
conceive rushed through my mind. I put my hand to my
mouth to prevent the utterance. I had not, that I know
of, ever heard these words; and I am certain that I had
never used in my life, from my youth up, so much as one
of them, for I had never been profane. But these things
sorely beset me; for half an hour together the most fear
ful imprecations would dash through my brain. Oh, how
I groaned and cried before God. That temptation passed
away ; but ere many days it was renewed again ; and when
I was in prayer, or when I was reading the Bible, these
blasphemous thoughts would pour in upon me more than
at any other time. I consulted with an aged godly man
about it. He said to me, " Oh, all this many of the peo
ple of God have proved before you. " But," said he,
"do you hate these thoughts'?" "I do," I truly said.
" Then," said he, " they are not yours ; serve them as the
old parishes used to do with vagrants — whip them and
send them on to their own parish. Groan over them, re
pent of them, and send them on to the devil, the father,
to whom they belong — for they are not yours." Do you
not recollect how John Bunyan hits off the picture? He
says, when Christian was going through the valley of the
shadow of death, " There stepped up one to him, and
whispered blasphemous thoughts into his ear, so that poor
Christian thought they were his own thoughts; but they
were not his thoughts at all, but the injections of a blas
phemous spirit." So when you are about to lay hold on
Christ, Satan will ply all his engines and try to destroy
you. He cannot bear to lose one of his slaves; he will
invent a fresh temptation for each believer, so that he muy
not put his trust in Christ."
60 SPURGEON'S ILLUSTRATIVE ANECDOTES
Persecution the Fertilizer of Religion.— George Whitefield
said, when he preached on Kennington Common, where
they threw dead cats and rotten eggs at him, " This is
only the manure of Methodism, the best thing in the world
to make it grow ; throw away as fast as you please." And
when a stone cut him on the forehead, he seemed to preach
the better for a little blood-letting.
Sham Religion.— It was but a little while ago that I had in
my house a gentleman, an excellent man, and I believe a
true child of God, who told me he had been brought seri
ously under impression, on account of sin, through hear
ing a sermon of late. " But," said he, " I was baptized
in my childhood. When I was but young, there was a
revival in our village, in New England. Mine was the
hardest heart in our village; but I was found out at last.
There was scarcely a girl or boy that did not join the
church, and I was at last brought under deep impression.
I used to weep before God, and pray to him. I went to
the minister and told him I was converted, deceived him,
and was baptized." And then he went on to tell me that
he had dived into the blackest crimes, and gone far away,
even from the profession of religion; that after going
to college he had been struck off the church-roll on ac
count of wickedness, and that up to this time he had been
an infidel, and had not so much as thought of the things
of the kingdom. Take heed, many of you, that you do
not get a sham religion. Many jump into godliness as
they would into a bath; but they are very glad to jump
out of it again, when they find the world pays them
better.
Indifference to Slander.— It often happens, when the devil
cannot ruin a man by getting him to commit a sin, he
attempts to slander him ; he sends a hawk after him, and
tries to bring him down by slandering his good name. I
will give you a piece of advice, I know a good, minister,
CHRISTIANS 61
now in venerable old age, who was once most villainously
lied against and slandered by a man who had hated him
only for the truth's sake. The good man was grieved;
he threatened the slanderer with a lawsuit, unless he
apologized. He did apologize. The slander was printed
in the papers in a public apology; and you know what
was the consequence. The slander was more believed
than if he had said nothing about it. And I have learned
this lesson — to do with the slanderous hawk what the
little birds do, just fly up. The hawk can not do them
any hurt while they can keep above him — it is only when
they come down that he can injure them. It is only
when by mounting he gets above the birds, that the hawk
comes sweeping down upon them, and destroys them.
If any slander you, do not come down to them; let them
slander on.
A Christian Home.— A religious house is the best proof of
true piety. It is not my chapel, it is my house — it is
not my minister, it is my home-companion who can best
judge me ; it is the servant, the child, the wife, the friend,
that can discern most of my real character. A good
man will improve his household. Rowland Hill once
said, he would not believe a man to be a true Christian
if his wife, his children, the servants, and even the dog
and cat, were not the better for it. That is being re
ligious. If your household is not the better for your
Christianity — if men cannot say, " This is a better house
than others," then be not deceived — ye have nothing of
the grace of God. Let not your servant, on leaving your
employ, say, "Well, this is a queer sort of a religious
family; there was no prayer in the morning, I began the
day with my drudgery; there was no prayer at night, I
was kept at home all the Sabbath-day. Once a fort
night, perhaps, I was allowed to go out in the after
noon, when there was nowhere to go where I could hear
62 SPURGEON'S ILLUSTRATIVE ANECDOTES
a gospel sermon. My master and mistress went to a
place where of course they heard the blessed gospel of
God — that was all for them ; as for me, I might have
the dregs and leavings of some overworked curate in the
afternoon." Surely, Christian men will not act in that
way. No! Carry out your godliness in the heart of
your own family.
A Worldly Christian.— No man can serve God and mam
mon because there is not enough life in the heart to serve
the two. Alas! many people try this, and they fail both
ways. I have known a man who has tried to let some
of his heart run into the world, and another part he
allowed to drip into the church, and the effect has been
this: When he came into the church he was suspected
of hypocrisy. " Why," they said, " if he were truly with
us, could he have done yesterday what he did, and then
come and profess so much to-day ? " The church looks
upon him as a suspicious one : or if he deceive them they
feel he is not of much use to them, because they have not
got all his heart. What is the effect of his conduct in
the world? Why, his religion is a fetter to him there.
The world will not have him, and the church will not
have him; he wants to go between the two, and both
despise him. I never saw anybody try to walk on both
sides of the street but a drunken man: be tried it, and
it was very awkward work indeed; but I have seen many
people in a moral point of view try to walk on both sides
of the street, and I thought there was some kitid of in
toxication in them, or else they would have given it up
as a very foolish thing. Now, if I thought thh world
and the pleasures thereof worth my seeking, I wouM just
seek them and go after them, and I would not pietend
to be religious; but if Christ be Christ, and if God b<9
God, let us give our whole hearts to him, and not go
shares with the world.
CHRISTIANS 63
The Christian's Victory.— Victory ! There is something
beautiful in that word. The death of Sir John Moore,
in the Peninsular war, was very touching: he fell in the
arms of triumph; and sad as was his fate, I doubt not
that his eye was lit up with luster by the shout of victory.
So also, I suppose, that Wolfe spoke a truth, when he
said, " I die happy "— having just before heard the shout,
" they run, they run." I know victory, even in that bad
sense — for I look not upon earthly victories as of any
value — must have cheered the warrior. But, ah ! how
cheered the saint, when he knows that victory is his! I
shall fight during all my life, but I shall write " vici "
on my shield. I shall be " more than conqueror through
him that loved me." Each feeble saint shall win the
day; each man upon his crutches; each lame one; each
one full of infirmity, sorrow, sickness, and weakness,
shall gain the victory. " They shall come with singing
into Sion; as well the blind, and lame, and halt, and the
woman with child, together." So saith the Scripture.
Not one shall be left out ; but he shall " bring forth judg
ment unto victory." Victory! victory! victory! This is
the lot of each Christian: he shall triumph through his
dear Redeemer's name.
Unwilling Doubts not Sins.— You that are vexed at your
own doubts are not to come to the conclusion that the
Lord utterly rejects you. He discriminates between the
folly of a child and the wickedness of a rebel : he knows
what is in your heart, and knows that you are his. You
are like a ship that is well anchored, and tho the tide ia
rushing in, and makes your vessel roll from side to side,
so that you yourself stagger, yet the vessel is not loosed
from its moorings, neither are you in any danger. Your
faith is fixed on Christ, and this anchor holds you; tho
you are tossed about a little, you will suffer no ship
wreck because of sin, but much sea-sickness because of
folly.
64 SPURGEON'S ILLUSTRATIVE ANECDOTES
Making Idols of Children. — A mother who had lost her
babe fretted and rebelled about it. She happened to be
in a meeting of the Society of Friends, and there was
nothing spoken that morning except this word by one
female Friend, who was moved, I doubt not, by the Spirit
of God, to say, " Verily, I perceive that children are
idols." She did not know the condition of that mourn
er's mind, but it was the right word, and she to whom
God applied it knew how true it was. She submitted
her rebellious will, and then, as if it were magic, was
at once comforted.
Attractive Christians.— They used in the old times to catch
pigeons and send them out with sweet unguents on their
wings: other pigeons followed them into the dovecote for
the sake of their perfume, and so were captured. I
would that every one of us had the heavenly anointing
on our wings, the divine perfumes of peace, and joy,
and rest; for then others would be fascinated to Jesus,
allured to heaven.
Changeable Christians.— I knew a Christian man right
well to whom I was accustomed to use one salutation
whenever I saw him. He was a good man, but change
able. I said to him, " Good morning, friend ! what are
you now ? " He was once a valiant Arminian, setting
young people right as to the errors of my Calvinistic
teaching. A short time after, he became exceedingly
Calvinistic himself, and wanted to screw me up several
degrees; but I declined to yield. Anon he became a
Baptist, and agreed with me on all points, so far as I
know. This was not good enough, and therefore he be
came a Plymouth Brother: and after that he went to
the Church from which he originally set out. When I
next met him I said, " Good morning, brother, what are
you now?" He replied, "That is too bad, Mr. Spur-
CHRISTIANS 65
geon; you asked me the same question last time." I
replied, "Did I? But what are you now? Will the
same answer do t " I knew it would not. I would
earnestly say to all such brethren, "Be sober." It can
not be wise to stagger all over the road in this fashion.
Make sure of your footing when you stand ; make doubly
sure of it before you shift.
Folly of " the Blues."— A sick and suffering brother re
buked me the other day for being cast down. He said
to me, " We ought never to show the white feather : but
I think you do sometimes." I asked him what he meant,
and he replied, " You sometimes seem to grow despond
ing and low. Now I am near to die, but I have no
clouds and no fears." I rejoiced to see him so joyous,
and I answered, " That is right, my brother, blame me
as much as you please for my unbelief, I richly deserve
it." "Why," he said, "you are the father of many of
us. Did you not bring me and my friend over yonder
to Christ* If you get low in spirit after so much bless
ing, you ought to be ashamed of yourself." I could say
no other than, " I am ashamed of myself, and I desire
to be more confident in the future." Brethren, we must
hope, and not fear.
Sent of God. — Strengthen your soul upon the persuasion
that God has sent you, and then go forward. If God
has sent you, who can stand against you? A Queen's
messenger claims that we clear the road for him. An
officer who bears the Queen's authority is authorized to
lay all persons under orders to speed him. He who
rides on royal business has precedence over all others.
Get to feel, Christian friend, that Jesus has sent you,
and herein will lie food for your courage. Know that
you have a mission, and go at it; and let it be unsafe
for any one to stand in your way. Let opposers know
that somebody will have to clear out; for if God sent
66 SPURGEON'S ILLUSTRATIVE ANECDOTES
you, in that sending there is a force and an energy which
nothing can safely resist. Do not make a noise. For
bear all blustering; but quietly set yourself to work. If
God has sent you, you will be like the greater Sent One,
of whom we read, " He shall not strive, nor cry, nor
cause his voice to be heard in the streets," but at the
same time " he shall not fail, nor be discouraged."
The Martyr's Victory.— There is a martyr in prison : the
chains are on his wrists, and yet he sings. It has been
announced to him that to-morrow is his burning day.
He claps his hands right merrily, and smiles while he
says, " It will be sharp work tomorrow, I shall breakfast
below on fiery tribulations, but afterward I will sup with
Christ. Tomorrow is my wedding day, the day for which
I have long panted, when I shall sign the testimony of
my life by a glorious death." The time is come; the men
with the halberts precede him through the streets. Mark
the serenity of the martyr's countenance. He turns to
some who look upon him, and exclaims, " I value these
iron chains far more than if they had been of gold; it is
a sweet thing to die for Christ." There are a few of
the boldest of the saints gathered round the stake, and
as he unrobes himself, ere he stands upon the fagots to
receive his doom, he tells them that it is a joyous thing
to be a soldier of Christ, to be allowed to give his body
to be burned; and he shakes hands with them, and bids
them " Good-by " with merry cheer. One would think he
were going to a bridal, rather than to be burned. He
steps upon the fagots; the chain is put about his mid
dle; and after a brief word of prayer, as soon as the
fire begins to ascend, he speaks to the people with man
ful boldness. But hark! he sings whilst the fagots are
crackling and the smoke is blowing upward. He sings,
and when his nether parts are burned, he still goes on
chanting sweetly some psalm of old. " God is our refuge
CHRISTIANS 67
and strength, a very present help in trouble; therefore
will we not fear, though the earth be removed and the
mountains be carried into the midst of the sea."
Run When You Cannot Fly. — Now, you are not com
manded in the text to be always in such a high, exalted,
rapturous state of mind as that. " Rejoice evermore,"
but you cannot always rejoice at that rate. I have said
that you cannot, and I mean it literally. There is a
physical impossibility in it. The strain upon the mind
would be much too great. We could not live in such a
condition of excitement and tension. Sometimes we can
swim in the deep waters; but who can always swim?
We can take to ourselves the wings of eagles, and soar
beyond the stars; but we are not condors, and cannot
always fly: we are more like the sparrows which find a
house near the altar of God. When we cannot mount as
on wings, we think it quite sufficient if we can run with
out weariness, and walk without fainting.
God's Special Care.— I think that many of you may say,
" Though I am least of all his saints, yet in some respects
the Lord hath specially blessed me hitherto." I believe
that every flower in a garden, which is tended by a wise
gardener, could tell of some particular care that the gar
dener takes of it. He does for the dahlia what he does
not for the sunflower; somewhat is wanted by the rose
that is not required by the lily; and the geranium calls
for an attention which is not given to the honeysuckle.
Each flower wins from the gardener a special culture.
The vine has a dressing all its own, and the apple-tree
a pruning peculiar to itself.
Gloomy Days Our Own Fault. — We have a deep river of
delights in the covenant of grace, yet we are content to
paddle about its shores. We are only up to our ankles,
the most of us, whereas the waters are "waters to swim
in." A great sun of everlasting love shines upon the
68 SPURGEON'S ILLUSTRATIVE ANECDOTES
globe of our life with tropical force, but we get away
to the North Pole of doubt and fear, and then com
plain that the sun has such little heat, or that he is so
long below the horizon. He who will not go to the fire
ought not to complain that the room is cold.
Present Victory.— We have seen the artist make with his
pencil, or with his charcoal, a bare outline of his pic
ture. It is nothing more, but still one could guess what
the finished picture will be from the sketch before you.
One acquainted with the artist could see upon the canvas
all the splendor of color peeping through the dark lines
of the pencil. Now, I want you to-day to see " the pat
terns of things in the heavens." We have much of
heaven here; at any rate, we have the Lamb who is the
glory of the eternal city; we have the presence of him
that sits upon the throne among us CTCU now; we have
if not the perfect holiness of heaven, yet a justification
quite as complete as that of the glorified; we have the
" white robes," for " the blood of the Lamb " has washed
them even now ; and if we have not yet the palm branches
of final victdry, yet thanks be to God, we are led in
triumph in every place, and even now "this is the vic
tory that overcometh the world, even our faith." There
fore —
" I would begin the music here,
And so my soul should rise;
Oh, for some heavenly notes to bear
My passions to the skies."
The Common Christian Soldier.— In a great battle the
general's name is mentioned; but what could he have
done without the common soldiers'? Wellington will al
ways be associated with Waterloo; but, after all, it was
a soldiers7 battle. What could the commander have done
if those in the ranks had failed him? The commander-
CHRISTIANS 69
in-chief might very well have touched his hat to the least
subaltern or to the humblest private, and have said, " I
thank you, comrade. Without you we could not have
conquered." The chief troubles of the great day of
Waterloo arose from certain very doubtful allies, who
wavered in the hour of battle — those were the general's
weakness; but his hope and strength lay in those regi
ments which were as an iron wall against the enemy.
Even thus the faithful are our joy and crown; but the
unstable are our sorrow and weakness. Every minister
ing servant of the Lord Jesus Christ is in much the same
condition as Paul; true, We are of a lower grade, and
our work is on a smaller scale; but our needs are just
as great. We have not all the grace which Paul pos
sessed; but for that very reason we make the more pa
thetic an appeal to you, our friends and fellow-helpers,
while we use the apostle's language, and cry, " We be
seech you, brethren, for the Lord Jesus Christ's sake,
and for the love of the Spirit, that ye strive together
with us in your prayers to God for us."
The Man Holding the Rope.— It is like one who is willing
to go into a far country, bearing his life in his hands;
but he plaintively exclaims, " You won't forget me, will
you? Tho you stay at home, you will think of me!"
It reminds us of Carey, who says, when he goes to
India, " I will go down into the pit, but brother Fuller
and the rest of you must contribute something — you
must hold the rope."
An Impregnable Fortress.— But David felt also great
safety from his enemies. When he climbed the rock,
and crept into his cavern, he knew that his enemies
could not follow him. Had Saul come with all Israel
at his back, David's band could have kept armies at bay.
He must often have felt like the eagle when it has
flashed upward to its nest on the craggy rock and from
70 SPURGEON'S ILLUSTRATIVE ANECDOTES
thence looks down upon the hunters. He is almost out
of sight, but he can see all the movements of the foe.
However long the range of the rifle, the noble bird knows
no fear, for he is beyond range. I think I see him sit
ting there quietly eyeing the enemy, of whom he knows
no dread. Thus may a child of God defy the great ad
versary. "Let us sing," said Luther, "the forty -sixth
Psalm, and defy the devil." The devil's restless nature
is fretted by the serenity of the firm believer in God;
and let him be fretted. His utmost rage is insufficient
to hurt a single hair of the head of a believer. No
adversary can carry by storm our impregnable strong
hold. Tyre stood a siege of thirteen years, but our fort
ress has been beleaguered throughout the ages and never
captured.
A Son's Boldness. — Religious people sometimes start back
from the prayers of a true saint, and say, " He is too
familiar." Of course a child is too familiar for the
imitation of a stranger; but have you ever blamed a
child for clambering his father's knee? And yet you
would not think of copying him. Boy, dost thou
know what thou art at? Thou art playing with a
learned judge, before whom prisoners tremble, and
courts are hushed. Even wise counselors speak to
him as " My Lord." That urchin does not say " My
lord." Look! He is plucking him by the beard; he is
kissing his cheek. What presumption! No! he is the
judge's child ; he who is judge to others is " father "
to him. So the saints of God say, " Our Father, which
art in heaven," ever reverentially, but yet with sweet
familiarity. They are at home with him. Beloved, may
you know what that means by the teachings of the Spirit
of sonship for only he can teach us the blessed freedom
of being at home with God.
CHRISTIANS 71
The Marks of Discipleship.— Somebody, years ago, ut
tered an atrocious lie against me — an abominable slan
der. I was very low and heavy of spirit at the tune;
but when I read it I clapped my hands for joy, for I
felt, " Now I have one of the marks and seals of a
child of God, for it is written, ' Blessed are ye, when men
shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all
manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake.7 " The
love of the Lord's brethren and the hatred of the Lord's
enemies are two things to be desired.
"The Christian's Walk."— Oh, that our way may be
strewn with gracious acts, as when a cloud passes over
a thirsty land, and blesses it with silver showers! I
have known in a certain village a spot called " The Poet's
Walk," and another called "The Lovers' Walk." Oh,
that ours may be tl The Christian's walk ! " May the
good Lord perfect us in every good work to do his will,
working in us that which is profitable and well-pleasing
in his sight!
Quarrelling With God.— I was greatly struck with a story
a dear sister told me yesterday. She was very nearly
being removed from the church: she had quarreled with
the Lord for taking away her husband, and she would
not go to any place of worship, she felt so angry about
her loss. But her little child came to her one morning,
and said, " Mother, do you think Jonah was right when
he said, * I do well to be angry, even unto death ' "? "
She replied, " 0 child, do not talk to me," and put the
little one away, but she felt the rebuke, and it brought
her back to God, and back to her church again, humbly
rejoicing in him who had used this instrumentality to
set her right with her Lord.
Christian Fragrance.— You know the Persian story of the
scented clay. One said to it, " Clay, whence hast thou
thy delicious perfume ? " It answered : " I was afore
time nothing but a piece of common clay, but I lay
72 SPURGEON'S ILLUSTRATIVE ANECDOTES
long in the sweet society of a rose till I drank in its
fragrance and became perfumed myself." Oh, if you
dwell much with God in seasons of retirement, and abide
with him in all the affairs of life, you will be changed
into his image. As surely as the type will make its im
press upon the paper, and the seal will stamp itself upon
the wax, so will the Lord impress himself upon you, and
stamp his image upon you if you dwell in him.
The Christian's Apparel.— The glory of God ! How shall
I describe it! I must set before you a strange Scrip
tural picture. Mordecai must be made glorious for his
fidelity to his king, and singular is the honor which his
monarch ordains for him. This was the royal order.
" Let the royal apparel be brought which the king useth
to wear, and the horse that the king rideth upon, and
the crown royal which is set upon his head: and let this
apparel and horse be delivered to the hand of one of
the king's most noble princes, that they may array the
man withal whom the king delighteth to honor, and bring
him on horseback through the street of the city, and
proclaim before him, Thus shall it be done to the man
whom the king delighteth to honor." Can you not
imagine the surprise of the Jew when robe and ring
were put upon him, and when he found himself placed
upon the king's horse. This may serve as a figure of
that which will happen to us: we shall be glorified with
the glory of God. The best robe, the best of heaven's
array, shall be appointed unto us, and we shall dwell in
the house of the Lord for ever.
The Rooted Christian — I saw one day a number of beech
trees which had formed a wood: they had all fallen to
the ground through a storm. The fact was they leaned
upon one another to a great extent, and the thickness
of the wood prevented each tree from getting a firm hold
of the soil. They kept each other up and also con-
CHRISTIANS 73
strained each other to grow up tall and thin, to the
neglect of root-growth. When the tempest forced down
the first few trees, the others readily followed, one after
the other. Close to that same spot I saw another tree in
the open, bravely defying the blast, in solitary strength.
The hurricane had beaten upon it but it had endured all
its force unsheltered. That lone, brave tree seemed to
be better rooted than before the storm. I thought, " Is
it not so with professors ? " They often hold together,
and help each other to grow up, but if they have not
firm personal roothold, when a storm arises they fall in
rows. A minister dies, or certain leaders are taken away,
and over go the members by departure from the faith
and from holiness. I would have you be self-contained,
growing each man into Christ for himself, rooted and
grounded in love and faith and every holy grace. Then
when the worst storm that ever blew on mortal man shall
come, it will be said of your faith, "It could not
shake it."
Faith Which Cannot be Shaken.— We read that when
the flood beat upon the wise man's house "it could not
shake it." That is very beautiful. Not only could it
not carry it away, but "it could not shake it." I see
the man : he lost his money and became poor, but he did
not give up his faith : " It could not shake it." He
was ridiculed and slandered, and many of his former
friends gave him the cold shoulder ; but " It could not
shake it." He went to Jesus under his great trial and
he was sustained : " It could not shake it." He was very
sick and his spirit was depressed within him, but still
he held his confidence in Christ : " It could not shake it."
He was near to die ; he knew that he must soon depart out
of this world, but all the pains of death and the certainty
of dissolution could not shake him. He died as he lived,
firm as a rock, rejoicing as much as ever, nay, rejoicing
74 SPURGEON'S ILLUSTRATIVE ANECDOTES
more, because he was nearer to the kingdom and to the
fruition of all his hopes. "It could not shake it." It
is a grand thing to have a faith which cannot be shaken.
Sham Christians.— The character of Talkative in Pilgrim's
Progress is ably drawn. I have met the gentleman many
times, and can bear witness that John Bunyan was a
photographer before photography was invented. Chris
tian said of him " He talketh of prayer, of repentance,
of faith, and of the new birth; but he knows but only
to talk of them. I have been in his family, and his
house is as empty of religion as the white of an egg is
of savor." We have too many such persons around us
who are, as to what they say, everything that is to be
desired, and yet, by what they are proven to be, mere
shams. As tradesmen place dummies in their shops,
papered and labelled to look like goods, while yet they
are nothing of the sort, so are these men marked and
labelled as Christians, but the grace of God is not in
them.
The Hidden Fountain.— - You have seen a noble fountain
in a continental city adorning a public square. See how
the water leaps into the air; and then it falls into a
circular basin which fills and pours out its fulness into
another lower down, and this again floods a third. Hear
the merry plash as the waters fall in showers and cata
racts from basin to basin! If you stand at the lower
basin and look upon it and say, " Herein is water ; "
that is true, and will be true of the next higher one,
and so forth; but if you would express the truth as to
where the water really is, you may have to look far
away, perhaps upon a mountain's side, for there is a
vast reservoir from which pipes are laid to bring these
waters and force them to their height that they may
descend so beautifully. Thus the love we have to our
fellow-creatures drops from us like the descending silvery
CHRISTIANS 75
cataract from the full basin, but the first source of it
is the immeasurable love of God which is hidden away
in his very essence, which never changes, and never can
be diminished. Herein is love! If you and I desire to
love our fellow Christians and to love the fallen race of
man, we must be joined on to the aqueduct which con
ducts love from this eternal source, or else we shall socn
fail in love.
The Christian Can Afford to be Poor.—" I can afford to
be poor," said Dr. Gill, when one of his subscribers
threatened to give up his seat, and would not attend, if
the doctor preached such-and-such a doctrine. So says
the Christian, " I can afford to be poor ; I can afford to
be despised; I have in heaven a better and more en
during substance." So, by the use of this blessed hel
met, he is protected from the threatenings of the wicked
world. ^
The Christian Defying Satan.— Martin Luther, you know,
often used to defy Satan to battle. I care not to do
that ; but he used to say, in his queer, quaint way, " I
often laugh at Satan, and there is nothing makes him
so angry as when I attack him to his face, and tell him
that through God I am more than a match for him;
tell him to do his worst, and yet I will beat him, and
tell him to put forth his fury, and yet I will overcome
him." This would be presumption if in our own
strength. It is only faith in the providence of God that
can enable us to say so. He that has made God his
refuge need fear no storm; but just as sometimes in
Christmas weather the wind and snow and storm outside
make the family fire seem warmer, and the family circle
seem happier, so the trials and temptations of Satan do
sometimes seem to add to the very peace and happiness
of the true believer while he sits wrapped up in the man
tle of godly confidence.
76 SPURGEON'S ILLUSTRATIVE ANECDOTES
CHRISTIANITY
Persecution Futile Against Christianity.— God has chosen
the weak things to confound the yfciglity. " Oh ! " said
Cassar, "we will soon root up this Christianity; — off
with their heads ! " The different governors hastened
one after another of the disciples to death, but the more
they persecuted them the more they multiplied. The pro
consuls had orders to destroy Christians; the more they
hunted them the more Christians there were, until at
last men pressed to the judgment-seat and asked to be
permitted to die for Christ. They invented torments;
they dragged the saints at the heels of wild horses; they
laid them upon red-hot gridirons; they pulled off the
skin from their flesh piece by piece; they were sawn
asunder; they were wrapped up in skins and daubed
with pitch, and set in Nero's gardens at night to burn;
they were left to rot in dungeons; they were made a
spectacle to all men in the amphitheatre ; the bears hugged
them to death, the lions tore them to pieces, the wild
bulls tossed them upon their horns — and yet Christianity
spread. All the swords of the legionaries which had put
to rout the armies of all nations, and had overcome the
invincible Gaul and the savage Briton, could not with
stand the feebleness of Christianity; for the weakness of
God is mightier than men.
The Democracy of Christianity.— A diamond is a dia
mond, whatever its size may be, and so little faith and
great faith are of the same essence. Whether it be a
grain of mustard-seed or a mountain-moving faith, it is
still faith of the operation of God, faith in the same ob
ject, and faith working to the same end. Hence John,
speaking to his converts, prays, " That you may have fel
lowship with us: and truly our fellowship with the Fath-
CHURCH 77
er, and with his Son Jesus Christ." If them art a believer,
thou hast a right to the same fellowship with God as
the apostle had, thou hast the same perfect cleansing by
the precious blood, thou hast the same adoption, the
same regeneration, thou standest in the same place of
love and acceptance, thou shalt be blessed with the same
blessings on earth, and thou shalt enter into the same
joy at the right hand of God.
CHURCH
The Power of a Live Church.— A healthy church kills
error, and tears in pieces evil. Not so very long ago
our nation tolerated slavery in our colonies. Philan
thropists endeavored to destroy slavery; but when was
it utterly abolished1? It was when Wilberforce roused
the church of God, and when the church of God ad
dressed herself to the conflict, then she tore the evil
thing to pieces. I have been amused with what Wilber
force said the day after they passed the Act of Emanci
pation. He merrily said to a friend when it was all
done, " Is there not something else we can abolish ? "
That was said playfully, but it shows the spirit of the
church of God. She lives in conflict and victory; her
mission is to destroy everything that is bad in the land.
See the fierce devil of intemperance how it devours men 1
Earnest friends have been laboring against it, and they
have done something for which we are grateful, but if
ever intemperance is put down, it will be when the entire
church of God shall arouse herself to protest against
it. When the strong lion rises up the giant of drunken
ness shall fall before him. " He shall not lie down
until he eat of the prey, and drink the blood of the
slain." I augur for the world the best results from a
fully aroused church. If God be in her there is no evil
which she cannot overcome,
78 SPURGEON'S ILLUSTRATIVE ANECDOTES
The Layman's Privilege.— There is a poor prisoner in a
cell. His hair is all matted, over his eyes. A few weeks
ago the judge put on the black cap, and commanded
that he should be taken to the place from whence he
came, and hung by the neck until dead. The poor wretch
has his heart broken within him, whilst he thinks of the
pinion, of the gallows, and of the drop, and of after-
death. 0 ! who can tell how his heart is rent and racked,
whilst he thinks of leaving all, and going he knoweth
not where! There is a man there, sound asleep upon a
bed. He has been asleep there these two days, and under
his pillow he has that prisoner's free pardon. I would
horsewhip that scoundrel, horsewhip him soundly, for
making that poor man have two days of extra misery.
Why, if I had had that man's pardon, I would have been
there, if I rode on the wings of lightning to get at him,
and I should have thought the fastest train that ever
run but slow, if I had so sweet a message to carry, and
such a poor heavy heart to carry it to. But that man,
that brute, is sound asleep, with a free pardon under
his pillow, whilst that poor wretch's heart is breaking
with dismay! Ah! do not be too hard with him: he is
here today. Side by side with you this morning there
is sitting a poor penitent sinner; God has pardoned him,
and intends that you should tell him that good news.
He sat by your side last Sunday, and he wept all the
sermon through, for he felt his guilt. If you had spoken
to him then, who can tell? He might have had comfort;
but there he is now — you do not tell him the good news.
Do you leave that to me do do? Ah! sirs, but you can
not serve God by proxy; what the minister does is
nought to you; you have your own personal duty to do,
and God has given you a precious promise. It is now on
your heart. Will you not turn round to your next neigh
bor, and tell him that promise? 0! there is many an
CHURCH 79
aching heart that aches because of our idleness in telling
the good news of this salvation.
A Sleeping Church. — There is a fortress, yonder, far away
in India. A troop of those abominable Sepoys have sur
rounded it. Bloodthirsty hell-hounds, if they once gain
admission, they will rend the mother and her children,
and cut the strong man in pieces. They are at the gates :
Their cannon are loaded, their bayonets thirst for blood,
and their swords are hungry to slay. Go through the
fortress, and the people are all asleep. There is the
warder on the tower, nodding on his bayonet. There
is the captain in his tent, with his pen in his hand, and
his dispatches before him, asleep at the table. There
are soldiers lying down in their tents, ready for the
war, but all slumbering. There is not a man to be seen
keeping watch, there is not a sentry there. All are
asleep. Why, my friends, you would say, " Whatever is
the matter here? What can it be? Has some great
wizard been waving his wand, and put a spell upon
them all? Or are they all mad? Have their minds
fled? Sure, to be asleep in wartime is indeed outrage
ous. Here! take down that trumpet; go close up to the
captain's ear, and blow a blast, and see if it does not
awake him in a moment. Just take away that bayonet
from the soldier that is asleep on the walls, and give him
a sharp prick with it, and see if he does not awake." But
surely, surely, nobody can have patience with people
asleep, when the enemy surround the walls and are
thundering at the gates.
Now, Christians, this is your case. Your life is a life
of warfare; the world, the flesh, and the devil; that
hellish trinity, and your poor flesh is a wretched mud-
work behind which to be intrenched. Are you asleep?
Asleep, when Satan has fire-balls of lust to hurl into the
windows of your eyes — when he has- arrows of tempta-
8o SPURGEON'S ILLUSTRATIVE ANECDOTES
tion to shoot into your heart — when he has snares into
which to trap your feet? Asleep, when he has under
mined your very existence, and when he is about to
apply the match with which to destroy you, unless sov
ereign grace prevents? Oh! sleep not, soldier of the
cross! To sleep in war-time is utterly inconsistent.
Great Spirit of God forbid that we should slumber.
CONSCIENCE
Conscience Needs Illumination. — I do not hesitate to say,
that we all unwittingly allow ourselves in practices, which
clearer light would show to be sins. Even the best of
men have done this in the past. For instance, John
Newton, in his trading for slaves in his early days, never
seemed to have felt that there was any wrong in it; and
Whitefield in accepting slaves for his orphanage in
Georgia, never raised or dreamed of raising the question
as to whether slavery was in itself sinful. Perhaps
advancing light will show that many of the habits and
customs of our present civilization are essentially bad,
and our grandsons will wonder how we could have acted
as we did. It may need centuries before the national
conscience, or even the common Christian conscience, will
be enlightened up to the true standard of right; and the
individual man may need many a chastisement and re
buke from the Lord ere he has fully discerned between
good and evil.
A Fearful Conscience.— I have heard of a man who was
so constantly in debt, and continually being arrested by
the bailiffs, that once upon a time, when going by some
area railings, having caught his sleeve upon one of the
rails, he turned round and said, " I don't owe you any
thing, sir." He thought it was a bailiff. And so it is
with unforgiven sinners, wherever they are, they think
they are going to be arrested. They can enjoy nothing.
CONVERSATION 81
Even their mirth, what is it, but the color of joy, the
crackling of thorns under the pot? there is no solid,
steady fire. But when once a man is forgiven, he can
walk anywhere. He says, " to me it is nothing whether
I live or die, whether ocean depths engulf me, or whether
I am buried beneath the avalanche; with sin forgiven, I
am secure. Death has no sting to him. His conscience
is at rest.
True to His Conscience. — I know a man whose master had
tried to make him go against his conscience; but he said,
"No, sir." And the master thought, "Well, he is a
very valuable servant; but I will beat him, if I can."
So he threatened that if he did not do as he wished
he would turn him away. The man was dependent on
his master, and he knew not what he should do for his
daily bread. So he said to his master honestly at once,
" Sir, I don't know of any other situation ; I should be
very sorry to leave you, for I have been very comfortable,
but if it comes to that, sir, I would sooner starve than
submit my conscience to any one." The man left, and
the master had to go after him to bring him back again.
And so it will be in every case. If Christians are but
faithful, they must win the day.
CONVERSATION
Vapid Conversation. — Brothers, I leave it to yourselves to
judge whether your communications with one another
are always such as they should be. Are they always
worthy of you? What communications have ye had this
morning? Can I make a guess? "Nice and fresh this
morning." " Quite a change in the weather." Is not
this the style? How often we instruct each other about
what we all know! When it rains so as to soak our
garments we gravely tell each other that it is very wet.
Yes, and if the sun shines we are all eager to communi-
82 SPURGEON'S ILLUSTRATIVE ANECDOTES
oate the wonderful information that it is warm. Dear
me, what instructors of our generation we are! Could
we not contrive to change the subject? Is it because we
have nothing to say of love, and grace, and truth that
we meet and part without learning or teaching any
thing? Perhaps so. I wish we had a little more small
change of heavenly converse: we have our crowns and
sovereigns for the pulpit, we need groats and pence for
common talk, all stamped with the image and super
scription of the King of heaven. 0 Holy Spirit enrich
us after this sort.
CONVERSION
Look and Live.— We shall never forget the day, some of
us, when we left off self-righteousness and believed in
Christ to the salvation of our souls. The marvel was
done in a minute, but the change was so great that we
can never explain it, or cease to bless the Lord for it.
"Happy day! Happy day!
When Jesus washed my sins away."
I recollect the morning when salvation came to me as I
sat in a little Primitive Methodist chapel under the
gallery, and the preacher said, " That young man looks
unhappy;" and added, "Young man, you will never
find peace except you look to Christ;" and he called
out to me, " Look ! " With a voice of thunder he shouted,
" Young man, look ! Look now ! " I did look, I turned
the eye of faith to Jesus at once. My burden disap
peared, and my soul was merry as a bird let loose from
her cage, even as it is now as often as I remember the
blessed salvation of Jesus Christ.
Christ at the Door. — I saw a young woman from America
in the vestry some little time ago who came in great
concern of soul to know the way of salvation, and I said
CONVERSION 83
to her, " Do you not see it ? If you trust Christ, you
are saved." I quoted the Scriptures which teach this
great truth and made them plain to her, until the Holy
Spirit opened her eyes; light came on her face in a mo
ment, and she said, " I do see it. I trust Christ with all
my heart: and I am to believe that I am saved because
I trust Jesus, and he has promised to save believers'? "
" Yes," I replied, " You are getting on the rock now."
" I feel," she said, " a deep peace beginning in my soul,
but I cannot understand how it can be, for my grand
father belonged to the old school Presbyterians, and he
told me he was six years before he could get peace, and
had to be put into a lunatic asylum, for he was so mis
erable." Ah, yes, I have no doubt such cases have hap
pened. Some will go seventeen thousand miles round
about merely to go across a street, but there is no need
for it. There it is — " The word is nigh thee, on thy lips
and in thy heart. If with thy heart thou wilt believe in
the Lord Jesus Christ, and with my mouth make con
fession of him, thou shalt be saved."
Man's Convert, Not Christ's.— You have heard Mr. HilTs
story of meeting a man in the street one night, who
hiccuped up to him and said, " How do you do, Mr.
Hill ? I am one of your converts." " Yes," said Row
land, " I should say you are, but you are none of God's,
or else you would not be drunk." Converts of that sort
are far too numerous.
A Stranger Finding Christ.—- Some three years ago I was
talking with an aged minister, and he began fumbling
about hi his waistcoat pocket, but he was a long while
before he found what he wanted, At last he brought
out a letter that was well nigh worn to pieces, and he
said, " God Almighty bless you ! God Almighty bless
you!" And I said, "Friend, what is it?" He said,
"I had a son. I thought he would be the stay of my
84 SPURGEON'S ILLUSTRATIVE ANECDOTES
old age, but he disgraced himself, and he went away from
me, and I could not tell where he went, only he said he
was going to America. He took a ticket to sail for
America from the London Docks, but he did not go on
the particular day that he expected." This aged min
ister bade me read the letter, and I read it, and it was
like this : — " Father, I am here in America. I have found
a situation, and God has prospered me. I write to ask
your forgiveness for the thousand wrongs that I have
done you, and the grief I have caused you, for, blessed
be God, I have found the Savior. I have joined the
church of God here, and hope to spend my life in God's
service. It happens thus: I did not sail for America
the day I expected. I went down to the Tabernacle to
see what it was like, and God met with me. Mr. Spur-
geon said, ' Perhaps there is a runaway son here. The
Lord call him by his grace.' And he did." " Now,"
said he, as he folded up the letter and put it in his
pocket, " that son of mine is dead, and he is in heaven,
and I love you, and I shall do so as long as I live, be
cause you were the means of bringing him to Christ $ "
Joy in Heaven Over a Child's Conversion. — A poor neg
lected little boy in ragged clothing had run about the
streets for many a day. Tutored in crime, he was paving
his path to the gallows; but one morning he passed by
a humble room, where some men and women were sitting
together teaching poor ragged children. He stepped in
there, a wild Bedouin of the streets; they talked to him;
they told him about a soul and about in eternity —
things he had never heard before; they sppke of Jesus,
and of good tidings of great ioy to this poor friendless
lad. He went another Sabbath, and another; his wild
habits hanging about him, for he could not get rid of
them. At last it happened that his teacher said to him,
one day, " Jesus Christ receiveth sinners" That little
CONVERSION 85
boy ran, but not home, for it was but a mockery to
call it so — where a drunken father and a lascivious
mother kept a hellish riot together. He ran, and under
some dry arch, or in some wild unfrequented corner, he
bent his little knees, and there he cried, that poor crea
ture in his rags, "Lord, save me, or I perish;" and the
little Arab was on his knees — the little thief was saved !
He said —
" Jesus, lover of my soul, let me to thy bosom fly; "
And up from that old arch, from that forsaken hovel,
there flew a spirit, glad to bear the news to heaven, that
another heir of glory was born to God.
A Strange Conversion. — I knew a preacher of the Gospel
who was converted in a theatre. He was listening to a
play, an old-fashioned piece, that ended with a sailor's
drinking a glass of gin before he was hung, and he said,
" Here's to the prosperity of the British nation, and the
salvation of my immortal soul ; " and down went the
curtain ; and down went my friend too, for he ran home
with all his might. Those words, " The salvation of my
immortal soul, had struck him to the quick ; and he sought
the Lord Jesus in his chamber. Many a day he sought
him, and at last he found him, to his joy and confi
dence.
Conversion Necessary. — Furthermore, it is quite certain
that human nature cannot be made better, for many have
tried it, but they have always failed. A man, trying to
improve human nature, is like trying to change the po
sition of a weathercock, by turning it round to the east
when the wind is blowing west; he has but to take his
hand off and it will be back again to its place. So have
I seen a man trying to restrain nature — he is an angry,
bad-tempered man, and he is trying to cure himself a
bit and he does, but it comes out, and if it does not burn
86 SPURGEON'S ILLUSTRATIVE ANECDOTES
right out, and the sparks do not fly abroad, yet it burns
within his bones till they grow white with the heat of
malice and there remains within his heart a residuum
of the ashes of revenge.
Transformation Through Conversion.-— I know a village,
once, perhaps, the most profane in England — a village
inundated by drunkenness and debauchery of the worst
kind, where it was impossible almost for an honest
traveler to stop in the public house without being an
noyed by blasphemy; a place noted for incendiaries and
robbers. One man, the ringleader of all listened to the
voice of God. That man's heart was broken. The whole
gang came to hear the gospel preached, and they sat and
seemed to reverence the preacher as if he were a God
and not a man. These men became changed and re
formed; and every one who knows the place affirms that
such a change had never been wrought but by the power
of the Holy Ghost.
Diamonds Out of Pebble Stones.— There was a poor man
about sixty years old; he had been a rough sailor, one
of the worst men in the village; it was his custom to
drink, and he seemed to be delighted when he was cursing
and swearing. He came into the chapel, however, one
Sabbath day, when one nearly related to me was preach
ing the text concerning Jesus weeping over Jerusalem.
And the poor man thought, "What! did Jesus Chrsit
ever weep over such a wretch as I am ? " He thought
he was too bad for Christ to care for him. At last he
came to the minister, and said, " Sir, sixty years have
I been sailing under the standard of the devil; it is time
I should have a new owner; I want to scuttle the old
ship and sink her altogether! then I shall have a new
one, and I shall sail under the colors of Prince Imman-
uel." Ever since that moment that man has been a
praying character, walking before God in all sincerity.
CONVERSION 87
Yet, he was the very last man you would have thought
of. Somehow God does choose the last men; he does
not care for the diamond, but he picks up the pebble
stones, for he is able, out of " stones, to raise up children
unto Abraham." God is more wise than the chemist: he
not only refines gold, but he transmutes base metal into
precious jewels; he takes the filthiest and the vilest, and
fashions them into glorious beings, makes them saints,
whereas they have been sinners, and sanctifies them,
whereas they have been unholy.
Changed by Conversion. — You have read of James Hal-
dane. Once, when unconverted, he threw a ship's tum
bler at the head of a person who ^insulted him ; but when
regenerated on another occasion of insult, he simply
said, " I would resent it, but I have learned to forgive
injuries and overlook insults." Men were obliged to
say of him, " There is something in religion which can
bring such a lion as that down, and make him such a
lamb." Thus you will confirm the witness of Christ, if
you bear up against persecution.
An Infidel's Conversion. — I received a long letter from a
certain city, from one who has been one of the leaders
of the secular society in that place. The writer says,
" I purchased one of the pamphlets entitled ' Who is
this Spurgeon?' and also your portrait (or a portrait
sold as yours) for 3d. I brought these home, and ex
hibited them in my shop window. I was induced to do
so from a feeling of derisive pleasure. The title of the
pamphlet is, naturally, suggestive of caricature, and it
was especially to incite that impression that I attached
it to your portrait and placed it in my window. But I
also had another object in view. I thought by its at
traction to improve my trade. I am not at all in the
book or paper business, which rendered its exposure and
my motive the more conspicuous. I have taken it down
88 SPURGEON'S ILLUSTRATIVE ANECDOTES
now: I am taken down, too. ... I had bought one
of your sermons of an old infidel a day or two previous.
In that sermon I read these words:— ( They go on; that
step is safe — they take it ; the next is safe — they take
it; their foot hangs over a gulf of darkness/ I read on,
but the word darkness staggered me. It was all dark
with me. ' True, the way has been safe so far, but I
am lost in bewilderment. No, no, no, I will not risk it.'
I left the apartment in which I had been musing, and
as I did so, the three words, 'Who can tell?7 seemed to
be whispered at my heart. I determined not to let
another Sunday pass without visiting a place of wor
ship. How soon my soul might be required of me I
knew not, but felt that it would be mean, base, cowardly,
not to give it a chance. Ay, my associates may laugh,
scoff, deride, call me coward, turncoat, I will do an act
of justice to my soul. I went to the chapel; I was just
stupefied with awe. What could I want there? The
doorkeeper opened his eyes wider, and involuntarily de
manded, 'It's Mr.- - isn't it?' 'Yes,' I said, 'it is.'
He conducted me to a seat, and afterward brought me a
hymn-book. I was fit to burst with anguish. ' Now,' I
thought, ' I am here, if it be the house of God, heaven
grant me an audience, and I will make full surrender.
0 God, show me some token by which I may know that
thou art, and that thou wilt in no wise cast out the vile
deserter who has ventured to seek thy face and thy
pardoning mercy.' I opened the hymn-book to divert
my mind from feelings that were rending me, and the
first words that caught my eyes were,
"'Dark, dark indeed the grave would be,
Had we no light, O God, from thee.' "
After giving some things which he looks upon as evi
dences that he is a true convert of religion, he closes up
CONVERSION 8g
by saying, " 0 sir, tell this to the poor wretch whose
pride, like mine, has made him league with hell; tell it
to the hesitating and to the timid; tell it to the cooling
Christian, that God is a very present help to all that are
in need.
A Notable Conversion.— The chaplain of a jail, a dear
friend of mine, once told me a surprising case of con
version in which a knowledge of the covenant of grace
was the chief instrument of the Holy Spirit. My friend
had under his charge a man most cunning and brutal.
Hs was singularly repulsive, even in comparison with
other convicts. He had been renowned for his daring,
and for the utter absence of all feeling when committing
acts of violence. I think he had been called " the king
of the garotters." The chaplain had spoken to him
several times, but had not succeeded even in getting an
answer. The man was sullenly set against all instruc
tion. At last he expressed a desire for a certain book,
but as it was not in the library the chaplain pointed to
the Bible, which was placed in his cell, and said, " Did
you ever read that Book ? " He gave no answer, but
looked at the good man as if he would kill him. The
question was kindly repeated, with the assurance that
he would find it well worth reading. " Sir," said the
convict, " you would not ask me such a question if you
knew who I was. What have I to do with a Book of
that sort ? " He was told that his character was well
known to the chaplain, and that for this very reason he
recommended the Bible as a Book which would suit his
case. " It would do me no good," he cried, " I am past
all feeling." Doubling up his first he struck the iron
door of the cell, and said, " My heart is as hard as that
iron; there is nothing in any book that will ever touch
me." " Well," said the chaplain, " you want a new
heart. Did you ever read the covenant of grace ? " To
go SPURGEON'S ILLUSTRATIVE ANECDOTES
which the man answered sullenly by inquiring what he
meant by such talk. His friend replied, " Listen to these
words — ' A new heart also will I give you, and a new
spirit will I put within you/ " The words struck the
man with amazement, as well they might; he asked to
have the passage found for him in the Bible. He read
the words again and again; and when the chaplain came
back to him next day, the wild beast was tamed. " Oh,
sir," he said, "I never dreamed of such a promise! I
never believed it possible that God would speak in such
a way as that to men. If he gives me a new heart it
will be a miracle of mercy; and yet I think," he said,
" he is going to work that miracle upon me, for the very
hope of a new nature is beginning to touch me as I
never was touched before." That man became gentle in
manner, obedient to authority, and childlike in spirit.
A New Creature.— Is it not said of Augustine that after
his conversion he was met by a fallen woman who had
known him in his sin, and he passed her by? She said,
" Austin, it is I ; " and he turned and said, " But I am
not Austin. I am not the man you once knew, for I
have become a new creature in Christ Jesus." That is
what the Lord Jesus Christ can do for you. Do you not
believe it? It is true, whether you believe it or not.
Oh that you would look to Jesus and begin to live! It
is time a change was made; is it not? Who can change
you but the Lord Jesus?
The Brand Plucked Out of the Fire. — There was one who
went to hear, I believe, Mr. Toplady preach, the very
day when he was aged a hundred. He had been a con
stant neglecter of the house of God, but when he arrived
at the age of a hundred, attracted by the fame of Mr.
Toplady, who was an exceedingly popular, as he certainly
was a highly evangelical, preacher, and happened to be
preaching in the town where the man lived, he said he
CONVERSION 91
would go on that day to hear him, that he might recol
lect his birthday. He went, and that day God in his
grace met with him. I remember, too, the instance of a
man who was converted by a sermon which he heard
Mr. Flavel preach, and which was blessed to him eighty-
three years after he had heard it, when he was at the
age of ninety-eight. The word came with power to his
soul after all that interval of time. Just as he was on
the borders of the tomb, he was made to enter into eter
nal life. May the God of infinite mercy give such a bless
ing to aged ones here, and they will be brands plucked
out of the fire.
Better Than He Expected.— It does not matter why the
people come to hear the gospel; God can bless them in
any case. If Christ is preached, men will be saved,
even if they come to disturb. " Sir," said one to me,
" I had been to bargain about a pair of ducks on Sunday
morning, and I passed by the door, and I thought I
would just look in. There and then the Lord met with
me, and those ducks were forgotten, for I found a
Savior."
Came to Scoff but Remained to Pray. — I read in the Life
of John Wesley a story of Methodists meeting in a barn,
and how certain of the villagers, who were afraid to
break through the door, resolved to place one inside who
would open the door to them during the service, that
they might disturb the congregation. This person went
in before service began, and concealed himself in a sack
in a corner of the barn. When the Methodists began
to sing, he liked the tune so well that he would not get
out of the sack till he had heard it through. Then fol
lowed a prayer, and during that prayer God worked on
the man in the sack, so that he began to cry for mercy.
The good people looked around, and were astonished to
find a sinner in a sack seeking his Savior. The door
92 SPURGEON'S ILLUSTRATIVE ANECDOTES
was not opened to the mob after all ; for he who intended
to do so was converted.
Joy of Conversion. — I remember hearing Dr. Alexander
Fletcher, when speaking to children, tell them a simple
anecdote in order to illustrate the joy of a man when
he gets delivered from sin. He said, " I saw upon the
pavement three or four little chimney-sweeps jumping
about and throwing up their heels in great delight. And
I asked them, ' My boys, what are you making all this
demonstration for? ' ' Ah ! ' said they, ' if you had been
locked up for three months, you would do the same when
you once got out of prison/ " I thought it a good illus
tration. We can not wonder that people are joyous arid
glad when, after being long shut up in the prison of the
law, all sad and miserable, they have felt their bonds
broken, seen the door of the jail opened, and obtained
a legal discharge. What heed they about trials and
troubles, or anything else? They could leap over the
mountains: "By our God we leap over a wall," may
they say. " A troop may overcome, but we shall over
come at last." The heart seems scarcely big enough to
hold the joy, and it bursts out, hardly knowing what to
do or say. Thus it is at that wondrous hour which
comes but once in a Christian's life, when he first feels
himself delivered.
THE CROSS
The Token of the Cross. — I had the pleasure of riding
into the Leonine city in Rome a short time after the
Italian troops had taken possession, and I noticed that
every house had marked up most conspicuously the arms
of the kingdom of Italy and the name of Victor Em
manuel. They were not content to have it over their
doors, but all over the fronts of the houses you read
THE CROSS 93
"Victor Emmanuel, King of Italy," showing that they
were right glad to escape from the dominion of the Pope,
and to avow their allegiance to a constitutional king.
Surely if for a human monarch and the earthly freedom
which he brought men could thus set up his escutcheon
everywhere, you and I who believe in Jesus are bound
to exhibit the blood-red token, and to keep it always
conspicuous.
Salvation at the Foot of the Cross. — There was a young
man in Edinburg who wished to be a missionary. He
was a wise young man; he thought —"Well, if I am to
be a missionary, there is no need for me to transport my
self far away from home; I may as well be a missionary
in Edinburg." There's a hint to some of you ladies, who
give away tracts in your district, and never give your
servant Mary one. Well, this young man started, and
determined to speak to the first person he met. He met
one of those old fishwives; those of us who have seen
them can never forget them; they are extraordinary
women indeed. So stepping up to her he said, " Here
you are, coming with your burden on your back; let
me ask you if you have got another burden, a spiritual
burden ! " " What ! " she said, " do you mean that bur
den in John Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress? Because if
you do, young man, I have got rid of that many years
ago, before you were born. But I went a better way to
work than the Pilgrim did. The evangelist that John
Bunyan talks about was one of your parsons that do not
preach the gospel ; for he said, ' Keep that light in thine
eye and run to the wicket-gate/ Why, man alive! that
was not the place for him to run to. He should have
said, 'Do you see that cross? Run there at once! But
instead of that, he sent the poor Pilgrim to the wicket-
gate first ; and much good he got by going there ! He got
tumbling into the slough, and was like to have been killed
94 SPURGEON'S ILLUSTRATIVE ANECDOTES
by it." " But did not you," he asked, " go through any
Slough of Despond?" "Yes, young man, I did; but
I found it a great deal easier going through with my
burden off than with it on my back." The old woman
was quite right. John Bunyan put the getting rid of the
burden too far off from the commencement of the Pil
grimage. If he meant to show what usually happens,
he was right ; but if he meant to show what ought to have
happened, he is wrong. We must not say to the sinner,
" Now, sinner, if thou wilt be saved go' to the baptismal
pool ; go to the wicket-gate ; go to the church ; do this or
that." No, the cross should be right in front of the
wicket-gate ; and we should say to the sinner, " Throw
thyself there, and thou art safe; but thou art not safe
till thou canst cast off thy burden, and lie at the foot of
the cross, and find peace in Jesus.
The Cross a Stumbling-Block. — Nothing provokes the
devil like the cross. Modern theology has for its main
object the obscuration of the doctrine of atonement.
These modern cuttle-fishes make the water of life black
with their ink. They make out sin to be a trifle, and the
punishment of it to be a temporary business; and thus
they degrade the remedy by underrating the disease.
We are not ignorant of their devices. Expect, my breth
ren, that the clouds of darkness will gather as to a centre
around the cross, that they may hide it from the sinner's
view. But, expect this also, that there darkness shall
meet its erid. Light springeth out of that darkness —
the light eternal of the undying Son of God, who having
risen from the dead, liveth for ever to scatter the dark
ness of evil.
The Plea of the Cross.— If I had offended my father, I
should wish to be at peace with him directly; and if my
father said to me, " My son, I will be reconciled to you if
you will go and speak to your brother about it," well, I
DEATH 95
should not think it hard, for I love my brother as well as
my father, and I would go to him at once, and so all
would be well. God says, " Go to Jesus ; I am in him.
You can reach me there — go round by his cross ; you
will find me reconciled there. Away from the cross I am
a Judge, and my terrors will consume you. With the
cross between you and me, I am a Father, and you shall
behold my face beaming with love to you."
DEATH
Death the End of Probation.— I have sometimes likened
the hour of our death to that celebrated picture, which I
think you have seen in the National Gallery, of Perseus
holding up the head of Medusa. That head turned all
persons into stone who looked upon it. There is a war
rior there with a dart in his hand; he stands stiifened,
turned into stone, with the javelin even in his fist. There
is another, with a poinard beneath his robe, about to
stab ; he is now the statute of an assassin, motionless and
cold. Another is creeping along stealthily, like a man
in ambuscade, and there he stands a consolidated rock;
he has looked only upon that head, and he is frozen into
stone. Well, such is death. What I am when death is
held before me, that I must be forever.
Dying Grace. — I remember my aged grandfather once
preached a sermon which I have not forgotten. He was
preaching from the text " The God of all grace," and he
somewhat interested the assembly, after describing the
different kinds of grace that God gave, by saying at the
end of each period, " But there is one kind of grace that
you do not want." After each sentence there came the
like, " But there is one kind of grace you do not want."
And, then, he wound up by saying, "You don't want
dying grace in living moments, but you shall have dying
g6 SPURGEON'S ILLUSTRATIVE ANECDOTES
grace when you want it." Now, you are testing yourself
by a condition in which you are not placed. If you are
placed in the condition, you shall have grace enough if
you put your trust in Christ. In a party of friends we
were discussing the question, whether if the days of
martyrdom should come, we were prepared to be burned.
Well, now, I must frankly say, that speaking as I feel
to-day, I am not prepared to be burned. But I do be
lieve if there were a stake in Smithfield, and I knew that
I were to be burned there at one o'clock, that I should
have grace enough to be burned at one o'clock ; but I
have not yet got to a quarte* past twelve, and the time
has not come yet. Do not expect dying grace, until you
want it, and when the time conies, you may be sure you
will have sufficient grace to bear it. Cast out that stum
bling-block, then. Rest thyself on Christ, and trust him
to help thee in thy dying hour.
Death Certain.— " It is appointed unto all men once to die,
and after death the judgment." Run! run! but the fleet
pursuer shall overtake thee. Like the stag before the
hounds we fly swifter than the breeze, but the dogs of
Death shall outstrip us: Fever and plague, weakness
and decay; he hath but to let slip these, and they are on
us, and who can resist their fury? There is a black
camel upon which Death rides, say the Arabs, and that
must kneel at every man's door. With impartial hand he
dashes down the palace of the monarch as well as the
cabin of the peasant. At every man's door there hangs
that black knocker, and Death hath but to uplift it and
the dread sound is heard, and the uninvited guest sits
down to banquet on our flesh and blood. Die I must.
No physician can stretch out my life beyond its allotted
term. I must cross that river. I may use a thousand
stratagems, but I cannot escape. Even now I am like
the deer surrounded by the hunters in a circle, a circle
DEATH 97
which is narrowing every day; and soon must I fall and
pour out my life upon the ground. Let me never forget,
then, that while other things are uncertain, death is sure.
Death the Christian Awakening. — Let us imitate Mr.
Wesley's calm anticipation of his end. A lady once
asked Mr. Wesley, " Suppose that you knew you were to
die at twelve o'clock to-morrow night, how would you
spend the intervening time?" "How, madam?" he re
plied, "why just as I intend to spend it now. I should
preach this evening at Gloucester, and again at five to
morrow morning ; after that I should ride to Tewkesbury,
preach in the afternoon, and meet the society in the even
ing. I should then repair to friend Martin's house, who
expects to entertain me; converse and pray with the
family as usual; retire to my room at ten o'clock, com
mend myself to my heavenly Father, lie down to rest, and
wake up in glory."
Certainty of Death Should Humble Us.— When Saladin
lay a-dying he bade them take his winding sheet and
carry it upon a lance through the camp, with the procla
mation, " This is all that remains of the mighty Saladin,
the conqueror of nations." A lingerer in the graveyard
will take up your skull one day and moralize upon it,
little knowing how wise a man you were. None will then
do you reverence. Therefore be humble.
Death a Mercy. — It were a sad sentence if we were bound
over to dwell in this poor world for ever. Who among
us would wish to realize in his own person the fabled life
of the Wandering Jew, or even Prester John? Who de
sires to go up and down among the sons of men for twice
a thousand years? If the Supreme should say, "Live
here for ever," it were a malediction rather than a bene
diction. To grow ripe and to be carried home like shocks
of corn in their season, is not this a fit and fair thing?
To labor through a blessed day, and then at nightfall to
g8 SPURGEON'S ILLUSTRATIVE ANECDOTES
go home and to receive the wages of grace — is there
anything dark and dismal about that? God forgive you
that you ever thought so! If you are the Lord's own
child, I invite you to look this home-going in the face
until you change your thought and see no more in it of
gloom and dread, but indeed a very heaven of hope and
glory.
Death Like Going to Bed.— The child has to go to bed, but
it does not cry, if mother is going upstairs with it. It
is quite dark: but what of that? The mother's eyes are
lamps to the child. It is very lonely and still. Not so;
the mother's arms are the child's company, and her voice
is its music. 0, Lord, when the hour comes for me to go
to bed, I know that thou wilt take me there, and speak
lovingly into my ear; therefore I cannot fear, but will
with faith and hope, even look forward to that hour of
thy manifested love.
Death Sets Us Free. — I am told that persons who in the
cruel ages had lain in prison for years suffered much
more in the moment of the knocking off of their fetters
than they had endured for months in wearing the hard
iron; and yet I suppose that no man languishing in a
dungeon would have been unwilling to stretch out his arm
or leg, that the heavy chains might be beaten off by the
smith. We should all be content to endure that little
inconvenience to obtain lasting liberty. Now, such is
death — the knocking off of the fetters ; yet 'the iron may
never seem to be so truly iron as when that last liberat
ing blow of grace is about to fall. Let us not mind the
harsh grating of the key as it turns in the lock; if we
understand it aright it will be as music to our ears.
Imagine that your last hour is come ! The key turns with
pain for a moment; but, lo, the bolt is shot! The iron
gate is open! The spirit is free! Glory be unto the
Lord for ever and ever!
DEATH 99
A Message from the Grave.— History tells us of Peter
Waldo, of Lyons, who was sitting at a banquet as
thoughtless and careless as any of the revellers, when
suddenly one at the table bowed his head and died.
Waldo was startled into thought, and went home to seek
his God; he searched the Scriptures, and, according to
some, became a great helper, if not the second founder,
of the Waldensian church, which in the Alpine valleys
kept the lamp of the gospel burning when all around
was veiled in night. A whole church of God was thus
strengthened and perpetuated by the hallowed influence
of death upon a single mind. I suppose it is also true
that Luther in his younger days, walking with his
friend Alexis, saw him struck to the ground by a flash
of lightning, and became thenceforward prepared in
heart for that deep work of grace through which he
learned the doctrine of justification by faith, and rose
to be the liberator of Europe from Papal bondage. How
much every way we owe to this weighty subject ! Among
the earnest, the prayerful, the holy, many must own
that the vaults of death have brought them spiritual
health. Men have been helped to live by remembering
that they must die: yea, some men knew nothing of the
highest form of life till death aroused them from their
deadly slumbers.
Death Can do no Real Harm.— Certain Swiss peasants not
very long ago were feeding their flocks on one of the
lofty upland valleys. On one side of the pasturage
stood a number of chalets, or wooden huts, in which they
were accustomed to live during the summer, poor shelters
which were left as soon as the winter set in. One day
they heard a strange rumbling up in the lofty Alps, and
they understood what it meant; it meant that a mass of
rock or snow or ice had fallen, and would soon come
crushing down in the form of an avalanche. In a brief
ioo SPURGEON'S ILLUSTRATIVE ANECDOTES
space their fears were realized, for they saw a tremen
dous mass come rushing from above, bearing destruction
in its course. What did it destroy? Only the old, crazy
chalets: that was all. Every man of the shepherds was
safe, and untouched: the event was rather to them a
matter which caused a Te Deum to be sung1 in the vil
lage church below than a subject for mourning and sor
row. They said, " The avalanche is terrible, but it has
not slain the aged mother, nor crushed the babe in its
cradle: it has injured none of us, but only buried a few
hovels which we can soon rebuild." Their case is a
picture of ours. The avalanche of death will fall; but
O ye saints when it comes this is all it will do for you
— your earthly house will be dissolved ! Will you fret
over so small a loss?
Dying Without Hope.— Some years ago I was awakened
about three o'clock in the morning by a sharp ring of
the doorbell. I was urged without delay to visit a house
not very far from London Bridge. I went; and up two
pair of stairs I was shown into a room the occupants of
which were a nurse and a dying man. There was no
body else. " Oh, sir," said she, " Mr. So-and-so, about
half-an-hour ago, begged me to send for you." " What
does he want?" I asked. "He is dying, sir," she re
plied. I said, " I see that. What sort of a man was
he ? " " He came home last night, sir, from Brighton.
He had been out all day. I looked for a Bible, sir, but
there is not one in the house; I hope you have got one
with you." " Oh," I said, " a Bible would be of no use
to him now. If he could understand me I could tell him
the way of salvation in the very words of Holy Scrip
ture." I spoke to him, but he gave me no answer. I
spoke again; still there was no reply. All sense had
fled. I stood a few minutes gazing at his face, till I
perceived he was dead. His soul had departed. That
DECISION 101
man in his lifetime had been wont to jeer at me. In
strong language he had often denounced me as a hy
pocrite. Yet he was no sooner smitten with the darts of
death than he sought my presence and my counsel, feel
ing no doubt in his heart that I was a servant of God,
though he did not care to own it with his lips. There
I stood, unable to help him. Promptly as I had re
sponded to his call, what could I do, but look at his
corpse, and go home again. He had, when too late,
sighed for the ministry of reconciliation, sought to enter
in, but he was not able.
Death of the Wicked.— I never wish to stand by the
deathbed of any who die in their sins; this is a dreadful
woe indeed, to be wrapped in the black winding-sheet
of guilt. I have seen the eyes starting from the sock
ets; I have seen the throat dried up like a potsherd; I
have heard the cries of one man in death whom I vis
ited. The scene comes up before me at the present
moment as I saw him rise in his bed and shriek, " 0
God, I will not die, there is no mercy for me." He
begged of us to pray for him, and yet he knew that
our prayers were of no avail. "I have had my sea
sons," said he, "but I can't repent; I shall die in a
short time, and I shall soon be in hell." "Water," said
he, " give me water." Yet again he cried, " 0, God, I
cannot die, I will not die," and this was a prelude to his
departure, for he shortly afterwards expired in desperate
agony. Death is indeed a woe to such a man as that.
DECISION
Indecision.— " Now," says the prophet, "how long halt
ye?" or, if you like to read it so, "how long limp ye
between two opinions'?" (How long wriggle ye between
two opinions? would be a good word, if I might em-
102 SPURGEON'S ILLUSTRATIVE ANECDOTES
ploy it.) He represents them as like a man whose legs
are entirely out of joint; he first goes on one side, and
then on the other, and can not go far either way. I
could not describe it without putting myself into a most
ludicrous posture.
The Great Decision.— I can scarcely recall the details of
a little incident in Russian history which might illus
trate the emergency: but the fact, as far as my memory
serves, was this. The Czar had died suddenly, and in
the dead of night one of the counselors of the empire
came to the Princess Elizabeth and said to her, "You
must come at once and take possession of the crown."
She hesitated, for there were difficulties in the way, and
she did not desire the position. But he said, " Now, sit
down, Princess, for a minute." Then he drew her two
pictures. One was the picture of herself and the Count
thrown into prison, racked with tortures, and presently
both brought out to die beneath the axe. "That," he
said, "you can have if you like." The other picture
was of herself with the imperial crown of all the Russias
on her brow, and all the princes bowing before her, and
all the nation doing her homage. " That," said he, " is
the other side of the question. But, to-night, your
Majesty must choose which it shall be." With the two
pictures vividly depicted before her mind's eye she did
not hesitate long, but cast in her choice for the crown.
Now, I would fain paint to you such pictures, only I
lack the skill. You will either sink forever down in
deeper and yet deeper woe, filled with remorse because
you brought it all upon yourself, or else, if you de
cide for Christ, and trust in him, you shall enter into
the bliss of those who forever and forever, without ad
mixture of grief, enjoy felicity before the throne of
God. To my mind, there ought to be no halting as to
the choice. It should be made. I pray God's Holy
DECISION 103
Spirit to help you to make it to-night. On this winged
hour eternity is hung. The choice of this night may be
the cooling of the wax which now is soft. Once cooled,
it will bear the impress throughout eternity. God grant
it may be a resolve for Christ, for his cause, for his
cross, for his crown.
Solemn Decisions.— I am told that just under the dome
of St. Paul's Cathedral there is the mark of a workman's
hammer, and it is said that years ago one who was
engaged in the roof fell down and there met his death.
It is the place where a soul departed, where a man died.
I do not know where it is, but it may be that there is a
solemn spot here to-night where a soul will be lost for
ever. Maybe the moment has come when the wax upon
the soul's death-warrant shall grow cold, when it shall
say in its heart, " I will have none of these things," and
when God shall say, " Thou shalt have none of them ;
I will let thee alone; thy conscience shall never be
troubled again; thou shalt go through life in peace,
thou shalt go to thy death with carelessness; only in
hell shalt thou ever open thine eyes." God grant that
it be not so, but I feel as if it would be so with some
of you, unless sovereign and irresistible grace should
decide otherwise, and then, to-night, there will be a spot
in this house of prayer where a soul will be born to
God. What man is he that just now gives his heart to
Christ? Are there none of you? Must I go back to my
Master with no joyful tidings? Is there no heart here
that says : —
*' I'll go to Jesus, though my sins
Have like a mountain rose;
I know his courts, I'll enter in
Whatever may oppose."
io4 SPURGEON'S ILLUSTRATIVE ANECDOTES
Prompt Decision.— Suppose yourself placed in the same
position as King Antiochus. When the Roman ambas
sador met him and asked him whether it was to be peace
or war, he said he must have time to consider. The am
bassador with his sword drew a circle in the sand.
" Give an answer/' he said, " before you move out of
that circle, or if you step out of it your answer is war."
I think there is such a phase in a man's life, when he
must give a prompt reply. I know what that answer
will be unless God the Holy Ghost makes you give the
right one, but you must give it one way or the other, and
if the man saith, "No, I will give no answer," yet if
he stop beyond that appointed hour, it is war between
him and God forever, and the sword shall never be
sheathed, nor go back into its scabbard. He hath thrown
down the gauntlet, by refusing to give a decisive pledge
of obedience. The Lord hath declared eternal war
against him; peace shall not be made forever. Before
you go farther, which shall it be?
DUTY
Day by Day.— But why is it you will be troubling yourself
about the things of to-morrow? The common people
say, " Cross a bridge when you come to it." That is
good advice. Do the same. When a trouble comes, at
tack it, and down with it, and master it; but do not be
gin now to forestall your woes. " Ah ! but I have so
many," says one. Therefore I say, do not look further
before thee than thou needest. " Sufficient unto the day
is the evil thereof." Do as the brave Grecian did, who,
when he defended his country from Persia, did not go
into the plains to fight, but stood in the narrow pass of
Thermopylae; there, when the myriads came to him, they
had to come one by one, and he felled them to the earth.
Had he ventured into the plain he would have been soon
DUTY 105
devoured, and his handful would have been melted like
a drop of dew in the sea. Stand in the narrow pass of
to-day, and fight thy troubles one by one; but do not
rush into the plains of to-morrow, for there thou wilt
be routed and killed.
Our Duty to Our Neighbor.— An infidel once met a Chris
tian, and said, " I know you do not believe your re
ligion." "Why?" asked the Christian. "Because," said
the other, " for years you have passed me on my way
to my house of business. You believe, do you not,
there is a hell, into which men's spirits are cast 1 " " Yes,
I do," said the Christian. " And you believe that unless
I believe in Christ I must be sent there?" "Yes."
" You do not, I am sure, because if you did, you must
be a most inhuman wretch to pass me, day by day, and
never tell me about it or warn me of it."
Stedfast in Duty.—" Gird up the loins of your mind, be
sober, and hope to the end,"— because there is wondrous
grace to be revealed to you by and by. I should like you
to act as an American — Colonel Davenport — did upon
a certain occasion. One day, many years back, a thick
darkness came over the United States. Now and then in
London we have dreadfully dark days, for which we can
scarcely account, but this was quite a new experience
for the New Englanders, and caused a terrible sensa
tion. So exceedingly black was it that the barn-door
fowls went to roost in the middle of the day. The dark
ness grew worse, and people trembled in their houses,
declaring that the end of the world was coming. They
were all excited and alarmed. One of the houses of
legislature adjourned under the belief that the Day of
Judgment was come. The other house was sitting, and
the blackness was so intense that everybody was awed.
A motion was made that they should break up, as the
end of the world had certainly arrived. Colonel Daven-
io6 SPURGEON'S ILLUSTRATIVE ANECDOTES
port objected, saying, " The judgment is either approach
ing or it is not. If it is not, there is no cause for ad
journing; and if it is, I choose to be found doing my
duty. I wish, therefore, that candles may be brought."
Brethren, it is dark; but whatever is going to happen,
or whatever is not going to happen, let us be found
girded, sober, and hopeful. In these dark political times,
these dark religious times, I call for candles, for we
mean to go on working.
The Duty at Hand.— Nothing for a Christian to do ! You
are lazy, sirs; lazy, listless, sluggish, or else you would
never raise such a question. It is not, " What should I
do, " but " Where shall I begin doing it — which is the
first point?" And I would say, begin at the point that
is nearest to you. So they did when they built the walls
of Jerusalem. Every man built opposite to his own
house. There, you see, the advantage was he had not
to walk two miles to his work at mom and then come
back at night. He built opposite to his own house, so
he was spared all that trouble. And when he had a
little leisure time, when he went to his dinner, he could
sit and look at his work, and think how to do it better
next time. There was a further advantage in that.
Much economy and great benefit would come of it were
Christians to work near where they live, and take up
that part of Christian service most congenial to their
circumstances and to their tastes. " Whatsoever thy hand
findeth to do "— next to thine own door — " do it with all
thy might."
EARNESTNESS
Wasted Zeal.— We like to associate with people who have
hearts — not dry leather bottles, out of which all the
juice has gone; but those who have heart, and soul, and
life, and fire, and go. I love to meet with those who
EARNESTNESS 107
believe in something, and who work under the pressure
of their belief, and give their strength to the carrying
out of what they believe to be the will of God. It does
seem a very great pity that any zeal should be wasted,
and that any one full of zeal should yet miss his way.
We fear that there are some who will do so. If you
want to go to York you may ride very fast south, but
you will not get to York with all your speed. Un
less you turn your rein towards the north, you may
ride a thousand horses to death, and never see the gates
of the old city. It is of no use to be zealous if you are
zealous in a wrong cause; but when we meet with any
who are such, I say that they become peculiarly the ob
ject of a Christian's prayers. Pray for the zealous
with all your hearts, for it is such a pity that one of
them shoulcT go astray.
Christian Earnestness.— " Gird up the loins of your mind."
My brethren, that certainly teaches us, in the first place,
earnestness. A man going to work tucks up his sleeves,
and tightens his robes. He has something to do which
demands all his strength, and, therefore, he cannot afford
to have anything hanging loosely about him, to hinder
him. We brace ourselves for a supreme effort: and the
Christian life is always such. We must always be in
earnest if we would be disciples of our earnest Lord.
Refreshed by Enthusiasm.— The chamois-hunter quits his
couch long before the sun is up, and climbs the mountains.
He watches from the first gray light for the creature
which is the object of his pursuit. Ask him how it is
when he returns late in the evening that he has had
nothing to eat all day long. He answers, " I never
thought of it; I saw a chamois on a distant crag and I
hastened after it. I leaped the ravines, I climbed the
steep faces of the rocks, I sprang down again; I was
almost on my prey, but it was gone. I crept up within
io8 SPURGEON'S ILLUSTRATIVE ANECDOTES
range again, holding my breath lest the scent of me should
alarm the watchful chamois. I thought of nothing but
my sport; and I never knew what hunger meant until
my bullet found its mark in the heart of my prey, and
I had drawn out my hunting-knife. It was not until I
began to lift the game to my shoulder that I bethought
me that I had neither eaten nor drunk that day. You
understand what this enthusiasm means and how it re
freshes the hunter.
Earnestness. — There was a man who strove in the House
of Commons for what he thought would be a great boon
to seamen, but he could not prevail. At last he broke
through all the rules of the house and acted like a fa
natic, and when everybody saw that the man was so in
earnest that he was ready to faint and die, they said,
" We must do something " ; and it was done. An en
thusiasm which overpowers yourself is likely to over
power others.
EXERCISE
Exercising Our Faith.— Strong faith must always be an
exercised faith; and he that dares not exercise the faith
he has shall not have more. " Take away from him the
one talent and give it to him that hath, because he did
not put it out to usury/' In Mr. Whitfield's life, you
do not often find any complaining of want of faith; or
if he did, it was when he only preached nine times a
week ; he never complained when he preached sixteen times.
Read Grimshaw's life : you do not often find him troubled
with despondency when he preached twenty-four times
in seven days; it was only when he was growing a little
idle and only preached twelve times. Keep always at it,
and all at it, and there is not much fear of j^our faith
becoming weak. It is with our faith as with boys in
the winter time. There they go round the fire, rubbing
FAITH 109
and chafing their hands to keep the blood in circulation,
and almost fighting each other to see which shall sit on
the fire and get warm. At last the father comes, and
says, "Boys, this won't do; you will never get warm by
these artificial means ; run out and do some work." Then
they all go out, and they come in again with a ruddy
hue in their cheeks, their hands no longer tingle, and
they say, " "Well, father, we didn't think it half so warm
as it is." So must it be with you; you must set to work
if you would have your faith grow strong and warm.
Need of Spiritual Exercise.— Some men seem as if they
only had to meet one form of trial. They remind me
of the Indian Fakir; he holds his arm straight up; that
is the triumph of his strength. Now, God does not ex
ercise a believer's limbs till they grow stiff; but he ex
ercises them in every way, that they may become supple,
so that, come what may, he is ready to achieve any
exploit.
FAITH
Fear Not Faith. — A soldier in the army of the Potomac,
of whom I somewhere read, was taken to the rear to
die. He was badly wounded ; he was also suffering from
fever. Some one had told him, just before the fever
came on, of a soldier found asleep at his post who was
condemned to die. The poor fellow in his delirium im
agining that he was that soldier, cried out to the doctor
who was attending him, " Sir, I am to be shot to-morrow
morning; and as I wish to have all right, I want you to
send for the chaplain at once. I want to see him." The
doctor, to calm his fears, said. "No, no, you are not to
be shot to-morrow morning ; it's a mistake." " Oh, but
I am," he said; " I know I shall." " But I will be here,"
said the doctor, " and if any one comes to touch you, I
will have him arrested. I will take care you shall not
no SPURGEON'S ILLUSTRATIVE ANECDOTES
die." "Is it so, doctor?" said he, in calmer accents,
" then you need not send for the chaplain ; I shall not
want him just yet." So the truth came out that fear,
not faith, animated him, though it was but spoken in a
feverish dream.
Faith and Joy.— " Is it not surprising," said one, " that
God should have heard my prayers, and have been so
gracious to me in providence ? " " No," said an old
saint, whose long experience had taught her more of the
Lord, " it does not surprise me, it is just like him, it is
his way with his people. Oh, to feel that great mercy
is like him ; that it is what we should expect of God, that
he should give great deliverances, should walk the waters
of our griefs, and bid them cease their raging! It is a
blessed faith which enables us to recognize Jesus on the
waters, and to say, " I know it is Jesus, nobody but Jesus
could act so wondrously; I might not have known him
if I had seen him working in an ordinary way, or trav
elling like a common wayfarer, but here amidst extra
ordinary seasons I expected his help ; if I never had seen
him before, I expected to see him now; and now I do
see him I am not amazed, though I am delighted. I
looked for him, and I knew that when the need of him was
greatest, his coming would be sure." When faith bright
ens the eye of hope with the flash of expectation, joy is
not far away.
Faith and Healing. — If you believe his word you shall
know the sweets of grace. To ask for more evidence
first is as though a man should say, " Here is a medicine
prepared by a physician of great repute, and it is said
to be very powerful for driving out the disease from
which I suffer: I will take it as soon as I see that I am
improving by its means." The man has lost his reason,
has he not? He cannot expect even a partial cure till
be has taken the medicine. He cannot expect the result
FAITH in
to come before the cause. You must take the good Phy
sician's medicine as a matter of faith, and afterwards
your faith will be increased by the beneficial result. You
must believe on the Lord Jesus, because of the witness of
God concerning him, for that is all the witness you ought
to wish for, and all that God will give you. After you
have believed other witnesses will spring up in your soul,
as the results of faith, and so your confidence will be
strengthened; but just now, beloved, believe in Jesus
Christ, and having believed in him you shall know that
you are forgiven for his name's sake.
Faith and Feeling. — A certain master had a servant whose
mind was very much poisoned against him by slanderous
tales. Everything the master did the servant miscon
strued, because he considered him to be a tyrant and an
oppressor. Now it came to pass that this servant one
day learned more concerning his master, and found out
that everything he had done was dictated by the most
generous motives, and that his master indeed was one of
the excellent of the earth. The moment that servant's
thoughts of his master changed and he had faith in his
goodness, he acted very differently, as you may well con
ceive; none could be more faithful and diligent than he.
Now, we prove that we believe, because we feel towards
God so very differently; he is loved in our inmost souls,
and we delight to serve him. This would have been ut
terly impossible if we had not been changed in our feel
ings toward him by being led to trust him.
Unknown Heroes of Faith.— Think not that Luther was
the only man that wrought the Reformation. There were
hundreds who sighed and cried in secret in the cottages
of the Black Forest, in the homes of Germany, and on
the hills of Switzerland. There were hearts breaking
for the Lord's appearing in strange places, they might
have been found in the palaces of Spain, in the dungeons
ii2 SPURGEON'S ILLUSTRATIVE ANECDOTES
of the Inquisition, among the canals of Holland, and the
green lanes of England. Women, as they hid their
Bibles, lest their lives should be forfeited, cried out in
spirit, "0 God, how long?"
The Riches of Christian Faith.— This week I had my faith
much strengthened in visiting a sick woman. I would
fain change places with her. Glad enough should I be
to lie upon that sick bed and die in her room ; for though
she has been long on the borders of the grave, and
knows it, — knows that each hour may probably be the
last, her joy is so great, her bliss is so abundant, that
you have only to speak with her and her joy overflows.
She said to me, " I prayed that if God would spare me,
he would give me one soul, and he has given me five con
verts while I have been on this bed ; " and I did not won
der at it, as I saw the five dear friends sitting in the
room; I did not wonder at it — it was enough to make
one a Christian to see her joy and her peace, and hear
her talk so confidently about the time when she should
see her Lord and be in his embrace forever. " Ah ! "
says the devil to the Christian, " I will give you so much
if you sin." Our reply is, "What could you give me
compared with my inheritance1? 0 fiend, thou bringest
me counterfeit riches, but J can count down ten thousand
times as much in real solid gold! Thou profferest me
thy paste gems, but here are diamonds and pearls of
the first water and of the rarest value !
Superficial Unbelief.— Addison tells us of a man who, on
board ship in a storm, knelt down to pray, and expressed
his firm belief in a God. When he got ashore some one
laughed at him for it, and he challenged the man to a
duel. They fought together, and the atheist fell wounded.
When the blood was flowing he believed there was a God,
and he began to cry to God with all his might to save
him. The physician bound up the wound. The man
FAITH 113
put the question to him, "Is it mortal?" "No," he
says : " it is only a flesh wound." Then said the man,
" There is no God ; I am a thorough atheist." He be
lieved in God when he thought he was going to die; the
moment he felt himself better, he returned to his unbe
lief.
Faith and Reason. — Once Reason came along, and heard
a man cry, " I am guilty, guilty," She stopped, and said,
" The man is guilty ; God condemns the guilty, therefore
this man will be condemned." She went away — left
the man condemned and ruined, and quivering with fear.
Faith came and heard the self -same cry, rendered more
bitter by the cruel syllogism of Reason. Faith stopped:
she said, " The man is guilty ; Christ died for the guilty ;
the man will be saved ; " and her logic was right ; the man
lifted up his head, and rejoiced. Reason came one day,
and saw a man naked, and she said, " He hath not on
a wedding garment; can naked souls appear before the
bar of God? Should they have a place at the supper of
the Lamb? The man is naked; he must be cast out, for
naked ones cannot enter heaven ! " Then Faith came by,
and said, " The man is naked ; Christ wrought a robe of
righteousness; he must have made it for the naked; he
would not have made it for those who have a robe of
their own. The robe is for the naked man, and he shall
stand in it before God." And her logic was right and
just. The other might seem strictly according to rule,
but this was better still. Reason one day heard a man
say that he was very good and righteous. She saw him
go up to the temple, and heard him pray, " Lord, I thank
thee that I am not as other men." Said Reason, " That
man is better than others, and he will be accepted." But
she argued wrongly; for, lo! he went out, and a poor
sinner by his side, who could only say, " God be merciful
to me, a sinner," went down to his house justified, while
ii4 SPURGEON'S ILLUSTRATIVE ANECDOTES
the proud Pharisee went on his way disregarded. The
logic of faith is to argue white from black, whereas the
logic of reason argues white from white. Luther says,
" Once upon a time the devil came to me, and said, ' Mar
tin Luther, you are a great sinner, and you will be
damned.' ' Stop, stop/ said I, ' one thing at a time ; I ain
a great sinner, it is true, though you have no right to
tell me of it. I confess it ; what next ? ' ' Therefore
you will be damned/ ' That is not good reasoning. It is
true I am a great sinner, but it is written " Jesus Christ
came to save sinners ; " therefore I shall be saved. Now
go your way/ So I cut the devil off with his own sword,
and he went away mourning, because he could not cast
me down by calling me a sinner."
Danger of Unbelief.— When our sappers and miners went
to work around Sebastopol, they could not work in front
of the walls, if they had not something to keep off the
shots ; so they raised earth- works, behind which they could
do what they pleased. So with the ungodly man. The
devil gives him unbelief: he thus puts up an earth-work,
and finds refuge behind it. Ah, sinners! when once the
Holy Ghost knocks down your unbelief; when once he
brings home the truth in demonstration and in power,
how the law will work upon your soul. If man did but
believe that the law is holy, that the commandments are
holy, just, and good, how he would be shaken over hell's
mouth; there would be no sitting and sleeping in God's
house; no careless hearers; no going away and straight
way forgetting what manner of men ye are. Oh! once
get rid of unbelief, how would every ball from the bat
teries of the law fall upon the sinner; and the slain of
the Lord would be many.
Faith Awakened Through God's Kindness.— I remember
an old experimental Christian speaking about the great
pillars of our faith; he was a sailor; we were then on
FAITH 115
board ship, and there were sundry huge posts on the
shore, to which the ships were usually fastened, by
throwing a cable over them. After I had told him a
great many promises, he said, "I know they are good
strong promises, but I can not get near enough to shore
to throw my cable around them; that is the difficulty."
Now, it often happens that God's past mercies and
loving kindnesses would be good sure posts to hold on
to, but we have not got faith enough to throw our cable
round them, and so we go slipping down the stream of
unbelief, because we can not stay ourselves by our former
mercies. I will, however, give you something that I
think you can throw your cable over. If God has never
been kind to you, one thing you surely know, and that
is, he has been kind to others.
" Little Faith." — There are some Christians who never get
out of little faith all the while they are here. You notice
in John Bunyan's " Pilgrim's Progress," how many Lit
tle-faith's he mentions. There is our old friend Ready-
to-halt, who went all the way to the celestial city on
crutches, but left them when he went into the river Jor
dan. Then there is little Feeble-mind, who carried his
feeble mind with him all the way to the banks of the
river and then left it, and ordered it to be buried in a
dunghill that none might inherit it. Then there is Mr.
Fearing, too, who used to stumble over a straw, and was
always frightened if he saw a drop of rain, because he
thought the floods of heaven were let loose upon him.
And you remember Mr. Despondency and Miss Much-
afraid, who were so long locked up in the dungeon of
Giant Despair that they were almost starved to death,
and there was little left of them but skin and bone; and
poor Mr. Feeble-mind, who had been taken into the cave
of Giant Slay-good who was about to eat him, when
Great-heart came to his deliverance. John Bunyan was
u6 SPURGEON'S ILLUSTRATIVE ANECDOTES
a very wise man. He has put a great many of those
characters in his book, because there are a great many of
them. He has not left us with one Mr. Ready-to-halt,
but he has given us seven or eight graphic characters,
because he himself in his own time had been one of them,
and he had known many others who had walked in the
same path.
A Sham Faith. — I know a man who walks seven miles every
Sabbath to hear the gospel preached at a certain place —
a place where they preach the gospel. You know that
very particular, superfine sort — the gospel, a gospel, the
spirit of which consists in bad temper, carnal security,
arrogance, and a seared conscience. But this man was one
day met by a friend, who said to him, " Where is your
wife? " " Wife? " said he to him. " What! does she not
come with you ? " " 0 ! no," said the man ; " she never
goes anywhere." " Well, but," said he, " don't you try
to get her to go, and the children ? " " No ; the fact of
it is, I think, if I look to myself, that is quite enough."
" Well," said the other, " and you believe that you are
God's elect, do you!" "Yes." "Well, then," said the
other, " I don't think you are, because you are worse than
a heathen man and a publican, for you don't care for
your own household; therefore I don't think you give
much evidence of being God's elect, for they love their
fellow-creatures." So sure as our faith is real, it will
want to bring others in.
The Rope of Faith.— The stupendous falls of Niagara have
been spoken of in every part of the world ; but while they
are marvelous to hear of, and wonderful as a spectacle,
they have been very destructive to human life, when by
accident any have been carried down the cataract. Some
years ago two men, a bargeman and a collier, were in a
boat, and found themselves unable to manage it, it being
carried so swiftly down the current that they must both
FAITH 117
inevitably be borne down and dashed to pieces. Persons
on the shore saw them, but were unable to do much for
their rescue. At last, however, one man was saved by
floating a rope to him, which he grasped. The same in
stant that the rope came into his hand a log floated by
the other man. The thoughtless and confused barge
man instead of seizing the rope laid hold on the log. It
was a fatal mistake; they were both in imminent peril,
but the one was drawn to shore because he had a connec
tion with the people on the land, whilst the other, clinging
to the log, was borne irresistibly along and never heard of
afterward. Do you not see that here is a practical illus
tration? Faith is a connection with Christ. Christ is on
the shore, so to speak, holding the rope of faith, and if
we lay hold of it with the hand of our confidence he pulls
us to shore; but our good works, having no connection
with Christ, are drifted along down the gulf of fell de
spair. Grapple them as tightly as we may, even with
hooks of steel, they can not with all our efforts avail us in
the least degree.
Solid Footing for Faith.— Mr. Innis, a great Scotch min
ister, once visited an infidel who was dying. When he
came to him the first tune, he said, " Mr. Innis, I am re
lying on the mercy of God; God is merciful, and he will
never damn a man for ever." When he got worse and
was nearer death, Mr. Innis went to him again, and he
said, " 0 ! Mr. Innis, my hope is gone ; for I have been
thinking, if God be merciful, God is just too; and what
if, instead of being merciful to me, he should be just to
me? What would then become of me? I must give up
my hope hi the mere mercy of God; tell me how to be
saved ! " Mr. Innis told him that Christ had died in
the stead of all believers — that God could be just, and
yet the justifier through the death of Christ. "Ah!"
said he, "Mr. Innis, there is something solid in that;
n8 SPURGEON'S ILLUSTRATIVE ANECDOTES
I can rest on that ; I can not rest on anything else j "
and it is a remarkable fact that none of us ever met
with a man who thought he had his sins forgiven unless
it was through the blood of Christ.
The Leap of Faith. — A boy at sea, who was very fond of
climbing to the mast-head, one day climbed to the main-
truck, and could not get down again. The sea was very
rough, and it was seen that in a little while the boy would
fall on the deck, and be dashed to pieces. His father
saw but one way of saving his life. Seizing a speaking-
trumpet, he cried out, " Boy, the next time the ship
lurches, you fall into the sea." The next time the ship
lurched the boy looked down, and, not much liking the
idea of throwing himself into the sea, still held to the
mast. The father, who saw that the boy's strength
would soon fail him, took a gun in his hand, and cried
out, " Boy, if you do not drop into the sea the next time
the ship lurches, I'll shoot you ! " The boy knew his
father meant it, and the next time the ship lurched he
leaped into the sea. It seemed like certain destruction,
but out went a dozen brawny arms, and he was saved.
The sinner, in the midst of the storm, thinks he must
cling to the mast of his good works, and so be saved.
Says the gospel, " Let go your good works, and drop into
the ocean of God's love." " No," says the sinner, " it is
a long way between me and God's love; I must perish if
I trust to that ; I must have some other reliance." " If
you have any other reliance than that, you are lost."
Then comes the thundering law, and declares to the sin
ner, that unless he gives up every dependence, he will be
lost. And then comes the happy moment, when the sin
ner says, " Dear Lord, I give up all my dependence, and
cast myself on thee; I take thee, Jesus, to be my one ob
ject in life, my only trust, the refuge, the only refuge
I have, for my soul."
FAITH ng
Confidence and Heroism.— A holy confidence in the divine
purpose instead of making men grow stolid and idle may
prove to be one of the mightiest impulses to the heroic
life. Cromwell's Ironsides to a man believed in the ev
erlasting purpose, therefore they were invincible, for no
fear ever breathed upon them. Tho the hosts of the
tyrant may be innumerable, yet with the war cry, " The
Lord of hosts is with us," we will ride forth conquering
and to conquer. Settle it in your mind that the Lord has
called you to the work, and then advance without question
or fear.
Pioneers of Faith. — I greatly esteem in my own mind those
first believers who were not borne in by the throng of
others, but went forward alone. I compare them to the
first navigators upon an untried sea; the men who first
sailed out of sight of shore, greatly venturing. To be
first in perceiving that Jesus of Nazareth was the
Anointed of the Lord was no mean thing, for none of
the princes of this world had any idea of that great
fact. These were in truth the " men of light and lead
ing," the foremost minds of their age, peasants and
fishermen tho they were. These were the first swal
lows heralding a glorious summer-tide. These were the
first song-birds waking the morning to behold the newly
risen sun. It is a patent of nobility to be numbered
with these.
Faith Honored. — A slaveholding American, on one oc
casion, buying a slave, said to the person of whom he
was purchasing him, " Tell me honestly what are his
faults?" Said the seller: "He has no faults, that I
am aware of, but one: that one fault is, he will pray."—
"Ah!" said the purchaser, "I don't like that; but I
know something that will cure him of it pretty soon."
So, the next night, Cuffey was surprised by his master
in the plantation while in earnest prayer, praying for
130 SPURGEON'S ILLUSTRATIVE ANECDOTES
>'
his new master, and his master's wife and family. The
man stood and listened, but said nothing at the time;
but the next morning he called Cuffey, and said, " I do
not want to quarrel with you, my man, but I'll have no
praying on my premises: so you just drop it."—" Massa,"
said he, " me canna leave off praying ; me must pray."
— " I'll teach you to pray, if you are going to keep on
at it."— "Massa, me must keep on."— "Well, then, I'll
give you five-and-twenty lashes a day till you leave off." —
" Massa, if you give me fifty, I must pray."—" If that's
the way you are saucy to your master, you shall have
it directly." So, tying him up, he gave him five-and-
twenty lashes, and asked him if he would pray again.
" Yes, massa, me must pray always ; me canna leave off."
The master looked astonished; he could not understand
how a poor saint could keep on praying, when it seemed
to do no good, but only brought persecution upon him.
He told his wife of it. His wife said : " Why can't you
let the poor man pray? He does his work very well;
you and I do not care about praying, but there's no harm
in letting him pray, if he gets on with his work."—" But
I don't like it," said the master, " he almost frightened
me to death. You should see how he looked at me."—
"Was he angry?" — "No, I should not have minded
that; but after I had beaten him, he looked at me with
tears in his eyes, as if he pitied me more than himself."
That night the master could not sleep; he tossed to and
fro on his bed; his sins were brought to his remem
brance; he remembered he had persecuted a saint of
God. Rising in his bed, he said, " Wife, will you pray
for me?"— "I never prayed in my life," said she, "I
cannot pray for you." " I am lost," he said, " if some
body does not pray for me; I cannot pray for myself." —
" I don't know any one on the estate that knows how to
pray, except Cuffey," said his wife. The bell was rung,
FAITH 121
and Cuffey was brought in. Taking hold of his black
servant's hand, the master said, " Cuffey, can you pray
for your master? "— " Massa," said he, " me been praying
for you eber since you flogged me, and me mean to pray
always for you." Down went Cuffey on his knees, and
poured out his soul in tears, and both husband and wife
were converted. That negro could not have done this
without faith. Without faith he would have gone away
directly, and said, "Massa, me leave off praying; me no
like de white man's whip." But because he persevered
through his faith, the Lord honored him, and gave him
his master's soul for his hire.
Obedience of Faith.— The ship" is on fire; the bales of cot
ton are pouring forth a black, horrible smoke; pas
sengers and crew are in extreme danger, but a capable
captain is in command, and he says to those around him,
" If you will behave yourselves, I think I shall be able
to effect the escape of you all." Now, if they trust in
the captain they will do precisely as he orders. No sailor
or engineer will refuse to work the pumps, or to prepare
the boats, neither will any passenger disobey rule. In
proportion to their confidence in their leader will be the
alacrity with which they obey him at once. They be
lieve his orders to be wise, and so they keep to them.
Neither their fear, nor their rashness, will lead them to
rush to and fro contrary to his bidding if they have a
firm trust in him. When the boats are lowered, and are
brought one by one to the ship's side, those who are to
fill them wait till their turns come, in firm reliance
upon the captain's impartiality and prudence. They
will get into the boats or they will wait on board, for
they consider that his orders are dictated by a better judg
ment than their own. So far as each man and each
woman firmly believes in the superior officer, discipline
will be maintained. Do you not see this?
122 SPURGEON'S ILLUSTRATIVE ANECDOTES
Obedience is the necessary outcome of true and real
faith, and there is no trust where there is no obedience.
Some of you fancy that you are to trust Christ, and then
d<f what you like. You believe a lie, for such is not
the teaching of God's word. The faith which saves is
a faith which obeys.
Faith in Tribulation.— Oh ! what a precious thing faith is,
when we are enabled to believe our God, and how easy
then it is to endure and to surmount all trouble. Hear
the old man in the garret, with a crust of bread and a
cup of cold water. Sickness has confined him these
years within that narrow room. He is too poor to
maintain an attendant. Some woman comes in to look
to him in the morning and in the evening, and there he
sits, in the depths of poverty. And you will suppose
he sits and groans. No, brethren; he may sometimes
groan when the body is weak, but usually he sits and
sings; and when the visitor climbs the creaking staircase
of that old house, where human beings scarcely ought
to be allowed to live; and when he goes into that poor
cramped up room that is more fit to accommodate swine
than men, he sits down upon that bottomless chair, and
when he has seated himself as well as he can upon the
four cross pieces of it he begins to talk to him, and he
finds him full of heaven. " Oh ! sir," he says, " my God
is very kind to me." Propped up he is with pillows,
and full of pain in every member of his body, but he
says, "Blessed be his name, he has not left me. Oh!
sir, I have enjoyed more peace and happiness in this
room, out of which I have not gone for years,"— (the
case is real that I am now describing) " I have enjoyed
more happiness here than I ever did in all my life. My
pains are great, sir, but they will not be for long; I am
going home soon."
FORGIVENESS 123
FORGIVENESS
A Sure Pardon.— In the reign of King George the Third,
the son of a member of this church lay under sentence
of death for forgery. My predecessor, Dr. Rippon,
after incredible exertions, obtained a promise that his
sentence should be remitted. By a singular occurrence,
the present senior deacon — then a young man — learned
from the governor of the jail that the reprieve had not
been received; and the unhappy prisoner would have
been executed the next morning, had not Dr. Rippon
gone post-haste to Windsor, obtained an interview with
the king in his bedchamber, and received from the mon
arch's own hand a copy of that reprieve which had been
negligently put aside by a thoughtless speed.
" I charge you, doctor," said his majesty, to make good
speed." " Trust me, ' sire, for that," responded your old
pastor, and he returned to London in time, just in time,
and only just in time, for the prisoner was being marched
with many others on to the scaffold. Ay, that pardon
might have been given, and yet the man might have been
executed if it had not been effectually carried out. But,
blessed be God, our non-condemnation is an effectual
thing. It is not a matter of letter, it is a matter of fact.
Ah, poor souls, you know that condemnation is a mat
ter of fact.
When you and I suffered in our souls, and were brought
under the heavy hand of the law, we felt that its curses
were no mock thunders like the wrath of the Vatican,
but they were real; we felt that the anger of God was
indeed a thing to tremble at; a real substantial fact.
Now, just as real as the condemnation which Justice
brings, just so real is the justification which mercy be
stows.
124 SPURGEON'S ILLUSTRATIVE ANECDOTES
A Free Pardon.— A prisoner was taken out to die, and
as he rode along in the death cart his heart was heavy
at the thought of death, and none could cheer him of
all the throng. The gallows-tree was in sight, and this
blotted out the sun for him. But lo, his prince came
riding up in hot haste, bearing a free pardon. Then
the man opened his eyes, and, as tho he had risen
from the dead, he returned to happy consciousness. The
sight of his prince had chased all gloom away. He
declared that he had never seen a fairer countenance in
all his days; and when he read his pardon he vowed
that no poetry should ever be dearer to his heart than
those few lines of sovereign grace. Friends, I remem
ber well when I was in that death-cart, and Jesus came
to me with pardon. Death and hell were before me; but
I rejoiced exceedingly when I saw the nailprints in his
hands and feet, and the wound in his side. When he
said, " Thy sins, which are many, are all forgiven thee,"
I thought I never saw such loveliness before, and never
heard such music in all my days. Nay, it was not mere
thought, I am sure my judgment was right. Eternity
itself shall never disclose anything to me more sweet.
My pardoning Lord hath no peer nor rival. Oh, what
a Christ is he who appeared to me, a guilty, condemned
sinner, on the way to hell! Blessed be his name, he
bore on the tree my curse, and shame, and death and
I am free.
The Returning Prodigal. — Picture the case of the prodigal
son when he went home. Suppose when he reached the
house the elder brother had come to meet him. I must
take a supposition that the elder brother had sweetened
himself, and made himself amiable; and then I hear
say, " Come in, brother, welcome home ! " But I see the
returning one stand there with the tears in his eyes, and I
hear him lament " I want to see my father. I must tell
FORGIVENESS 1*5
him that I have sinned and done evil in his sight." An
old servant whispers, " Master John, I am glad to see you
back. Be happy, for all the servants are rejoiced to
hear the sound of your voice. It is true your father
will not see you, but he has ordered the fatted calf to
be killed for you, and here is the best robe, and a ring,
and shoes for your feet, and we are told to put them
upon you." All this would not content the poor penitent.
I think I hear him cry — " I do not despise anything my
father gives me, for I am not worthy to be as his hired
servant; but what is all this unless I see his face, and
know that he forgives me ? There is no taste in the feast,
no glitter in the ring, no fitness in the shoes, no beauty
in the robe unless I can see my father and can be recon
ciled to him." Do you not see that in the case of the
prodigal son the great matter was to get his head into
his father's bosom, and there to sob out " Father, I hav«
sinned1?" The one thing needful was the kiss of free
forgiveness, the touch of those dear, warm, loving lips,
which said, " My dear child, I love you, and your faults
are blotted out." That was the thing that gave his soul
rest and perfect peace; and this is the mystery we come
to preach to you — God himself drawing near to you in
Christ Jesus, and out of His great beneficence forgiving
you all trespasses.
The Forgiveness of God.— Fleming tells us in a book
of his that a great culprit had been condemned to be
hanged at Ayr. He had been a very great offender, but,
while he lay in prison, God granted him repentance, and
he was heard to say continually as they took him to the
scaffold, " Oh ! but he's a great f orgiver ! Oh ! but he's
a great f orgiver!" and I have often felt as if I could
stand and cry, yea, even dance with delight and say it,
" Oh, but he's a great f orgiver ! Oh ! but he's a great
f orgiver ! "
126 SPURGEON'S ILLUSTRATIVE ANECDOTES
Christ's Instant Pardon.— The Emperor of Germany, in
the olden times when popes were popes, had offended
his Unholiness, and before he could be restored to favor
he had to stand for three days (I think it was) outside
the castle gate, in the deep snow, in the depth of winter,
and do penance. I have seen, myself, in Rome and
elsewhere, outside of the older churches, places uncovered
and exposed to wind and rain, to the heat of summer and
the frost of winter, where backsliders were made to
stand, sometimes for years even, before they were re
stored, if they had committed some offence against ec
clesiastical statutes. You will sometimes see in old coun
try churches of England little windows that run slanting
and just look towards the communion table through
which poor offenders who professed repentance, after
some months of standing in the churchyard, or perhaps
outside of it, were at last allowed to take a peep at the
altar, at the expiration of their weary term of penance.
All this is contrary to the spirit of the gospel, for the
spirit of the gospel is, " Come now, and let us reason
together; tho thy sins be as scarlet, they shall be as
wool." The spirit of my text is " Kiss the Son now ; "
and that is all. Tho those lips were once blaspheming,
let them kiss the Son. Tho those lips have uttered high
words and proud words, or perhaps lying and lascivious
words, " Kiss the Son." Bow down at those dear pierced
feet, and trust Emmanuel, and own yourself his servant,
and you shall be forgiven — forgiven at once, without de
lay — and this night you shall be accepted in Christ.
GOD
Knowing God.— We have heard also of Juggernauth, and
of the thousand and millions of gods of Hindustan, but
we have no acquaintance with them. I have felt thank
ful when I have seen likenesses of Krishna and Siva
GOD 127
that they were no relations of mine. There is one god
with an elephant's head, and another god with a cat's
head : I am delighted to think that I never was on speak
ing terms with such monsters, and could never call them
mine. If they be gods to others they are not so to us:
we know them not, their names we despise, and their
pretensions we detest. But, brethren, we know that we
know our God.
For His Son's Sake. — There has been a war, and a wounded
soldier comes home, and he goes to the house of a father
and mother who have a son out in the army, and he
inquires, " Does so-and-so live here ? " " Yes." " Can
I see him?" "Yes." "I have a letter from your son,
whom I left in the army, he was my dear comrade."
"Are you sure you have such a letter?" The man
looks disreputable, and his garments are torn, and he
is evidently very poor, but he replies, " Yes, I have a
letter from your son." He puts his hands into his pock
ets, and he cannot find it. The master of the house is
angry, and says, " It is of no use your coming here with
this tale, you are deceiving me." He fumbles still in
his pockets, and at last he brings it out. Yes, there is
the token, the father knows the handwriting of his dear
boy. The letter says, " Father, this is a choice compan
ion of mine, and I want you, when he reaches home,
to treat him kindly for my sake. Tell mother that any
thing she does for him shall be the same as if she had
done it to her own boy." See how well he is received
at sight of that token, and even so when we present the
blood-mark, we say to the Lord, " There is the token
that we are Jesus' friends," and the Lord does not look
at the rags in which our poor nature is arrayed, but he
looks at the token of his own Son's blood and accepts
us for his sake. "What surer and more suggestive token
could we desire? When cleansed in the blood of Jesus
128 SPURGEON'S ILLUSTRATIVE ANECDOTES
we are comely with his comeliness, and dear to the heart
of God for his Son's sake.
The Love of God.— In the French Revolution, there was
a young man condemned to the guillotine, and shut up
in one of the prisons. He was greatly loved by many,
but there was one who loved him more than all put to
gether. How know we this? It was his own father;
and the love he bore his son was proved in this way:
when the lists were called, the father, whose name was
exactly the same as his son's, answered to the name, and
the father rode in the gloomy tumbril out to the place
of execution, and his head rolled beneath the axe in
stead of his son's, a victim to mighty love. See here an
image of the love of Christ to sinners; for thus Jesus
died for the ungodly, viewed as such. If they had not
been ungodly, neither they nor he had needed to have
died; if they had not sinned, there would have been no
need for a suffering Savior, but Jesus proved his bound
less love " in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died
for us." Your name was in the condemned list, my fel
low-sinner, but, if you believe in Jesus, you shall find that
your name is there no longer, for Christ's name is put
in your stead, and you shall learn that he suffered for
you, the just for the unjust, that he might bring you
to God. Is not this the greatest wonder of divine love,
that it should be set upon us as sinners? I can under
stand God's loving reformed sinners, and repenting sin
ners ; but here is the glory of it, " God commendeth
his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners —
yet sinners! — Christ died for us."
God Like a Mother.— It little matters where you seek the
Lord. He will be sure to see you; and even if it be in
the crowded street of Cheapside of Cornhill, if your
soul is in prayer, all the din of noisy London cannot
stop the prayer from reaching the ear of God. You
GOD 129
know, mothers, how quick you are of a night to hear
your children if they are ill. If you had a nurse, she
might slumber on; but as for you, with little Jane
up stairs sick, if you do fall asleep, the faintest noise
awakes you; yet you are not one-half so wakeful as
God is; for he neither slumbers nor sleeps. When your
heart begins to say, " My God, my God, I would be
reconciled; my Lord, I would be cleansed," the Lord is
waiting to be gracious. Before you call, God hears you,
for he is a God ready to pardon.
A Father's Heart.— When King Henry II., in the ages
gone by, was provoked to take up arms against his un
grateful and rebellious son, he besieged him in one of
the French towns, and the son, being near unto death,
desired to see his father and confess his wrongdoing;
but the stern old sire refused to look the rebel in the
face. The young man, being sorely troubled in his con
science, said to those about him, " I am dying ; take
me from my bed, and let me lie in sackcloth and ashes,
in token of my sorrow for my ingratitude to my father."
Thus he died, and when the tidings came to the old man
outside the walls, that his boy had died in ashes, re
pentant for his rebellion, he threw himself upon the
earth, like another David, and said, " Would God I had
died for him." The thought of his boy's broken heart
touched the heart of the father. If ye, being evil, are
overcome by your children's tears, how much more shall
your Father who is in heaven find in your bemoanings
and confessions an argument for the display of his
pardoning love through Christ Jesus our Lord.
God Ever Present.— When Her Majesty, some months ago,
heard of the desolation which had been caused by an
accident in the pits, her tender heart hastened to the
relief of the widow and the fatherless, but at the moment
of the calamity she was not on the spot in person; she
130 SPURGEON'S ILLUSTRATIVE ANECDOTES
could not be in the pit to hear the groans and sustain
the faith of the dying, nay she could not be in the cottage
to mark the tear of the widow and to cheer her with
heavenly promises; but our God is on the spot where
calamity occurs, for in him we live and move and have
our being. He is the greatest of comforters, and he is
also the most approachable. He is " a very present help
in time of trouble."
God's Tenderness.— When the King of Navarre was fight
ing for his throne, the writer who hymns the battle,
says —
i( He looked upon the foemen, and his glance was stern and
high;
He looked upon his people, and the tear was in his eye."
And when he saw some of the French in arms against
him —
" Then out spoke gentle Henry, No Frenchman is my foe,
Down, down, with every foreigner, but let your brethren go."
The king had an eye to his people even when they were
in rebellion against him, and he had a different thought
towards them from what he had towards others. "Let
them go," he seemed to say, " they are my people." So,
mark you, in the great battles and strifes of this world,
when God lets loose the dread artillery of heaven, his
glance is stem upon his enemies, but the tear is in his
eye towards his people. He is always tender towards
them. " Spare my people," saith he, and the angels
interpose lest these chosen ones should dash their feet
against a stone.
Responsibility to God.— That was grand of Latimer, when
he preached before Henry VIII. He had greatly dis
pleased his majesty by his boldness in a sermon preached
before the king, and was ordered to preach again on the
GOD 131
following Sabbath, and to make an apology for the of
fence he had given. After reading his text, the bishop
thus began his sermon : " Hugh Latimer, dost thou know
before whom thou art this day to speak? To the high and
mighty monarch, the king's most excellent majesty, who
can take away thy life if thou offendest; therefore, take
heed that thou speakest not a word that may displease.
But then consider well, Hugh, does thou not know from
whence thou cornest — upon whose message thou art sent ?
Even by the great and mighty God, who is all-present,
and who beholdeth all thy ways, and who is able to cast
thy soul into hell! Therefore, take care that thou de-
liverest thy message faithfully."
God's Call. — Standing one day in the court-house, some
witness was required, I forget his name; it may have
been Brown, for instance; in one moment the name was
announced, " Brown, Samuel Brown/' By and by twen
ty others take up the cry, " Samuel Brown, Samuel
Brown." There was seen a man pushing his way
through. " Make room," said he, " make room, his
honor calls me," and tho there were many in his
path, they gave way, because his being called was a
sufficient command for them, not to hinder him, but
to let him come. And now, soul, if thou be a will
ing sinner, who why name is not mentioned — if thou be
a willing sinner, thou art as truly called as tho thou
wert called by name, and therefore push through thy
fears. Make room, and come; they that would stop
thee are cowards. He has said "Let him come," and
they cannot keep you back ; Jehovah has said, " Let him
come," and it is yours now to say, " I will come." There
is nothing that shall hinder me, I will push through
everything and
" To the gracious King approach,
Whose sceptre mercy gives."
132 SPURGEON'S ILLUSTRATIVE ANECDOTES
God Mare Careful Than a Mother. — Look at the mother,
how careful she is. If her child have a little cough, she
notices it: the slightest weakness is sure to be observed.
She has watched all its motions anxiously, to see whether
it walked right, whether all its limbs were sound, and
whether it had the use of all its powers in perfection;
but she has never thought of numbering the hairs of
her child's head, and the absence of one or two of them
would give her no great concern. But our God is more
careful of us, even than^a mother with her child — so
careful that he numbers the hairs of our head. How
safe are we, then, beneath the hand of God !
Helpless Without God.— I find faith just the easiest thing
in the world when there is nothing to believe; but when
I have room and exercise for my faith, then I do not
find I have so much strength to accomplish it. Talk
ing one day with a countryman, he used this figure : " In
the middle of winter I sometimes think how well I could
mow; and in early spring I think, oh! how I would like
to reap; I feel just ready for it; but when mowing time
comes, and when reaping time comes, I find I have not
strength to spare." So when you have no troubles,
couldn't you mow them down at once? When you have
no work to do, couldn't you do it? But when work and
trouble come you find how difficult it is. Many Chris
tians are like the stag, who talked to itself, and said,
"Why should I run away from the dogs? Look what
a fine pair of horns I've got, and look what heels I've
got, too; I might do these hounds some mischief. Why
not let me stand and show them what I can do with my
antlers? I can keep off any quantity of dogs." No
sooner did the dogs bark, than off the stag went. So
with us. "Let sin arise," we say, "we will soon rip
it up, and destroy it; let trouble come, we will soon get
over it; but when sin and trouble come, we then find
GOD 133
what our weakness is. Then we have to cry for the help
of the Spirit; and through him we can do all things,
tho without him we can do nothing at all.
Depth of a Father's Love.— There was a little boy at the
corner of the table, and his father asked him, " Why
does your father love you, John ? " Said the dear little
lad, very prettily, " Because I'm a good boy." " Yes,"
said the father, " he would not love you if you were not
a good boy." I turned to the good father and remarked
that I was not quite sure ajjout the truth of the last
remark, for I believed he would love him if he were ever
so bad. " Well," he said, " I think I should." And said
a minister at the table, " I had an instance of that yes
terday. I stepped into the house of a woman who had
a son transported for life, and she was as full of her
son Richard as if he had been prime minister, or had
been her most faithful and dutiful son."
God Our Deliverer.— If God does not deliver his servants
at one time as well as another, he has not kept his prom
ise. For a man of truth is always true, and a promise
once given always stands. A promise cannot be broken
now and then, and yet the honor of the person giving it
be maintained by his keeping it at other times. The
word of a true man stands always good: it is good now.
This is logic, bitter logic, cold steel logic, logic which
seems to cut right down your backbone and cleave your
chine. " He trusted on the Lord that he would deliver
him: let him deliver him now." Yet this hard logic can
be turned to comfort. I told you a story the other day
of the brother in Guy's Hospital to whom the doctors
said he must undergo an operation which was extremely
dangerous. They gave him a week to consider whether
he would submit to it. He was troubled for his young
wife and children, and for his work for the Lord. A
friend left a bunch of flowers for him, with this verse
134 SPURGEON'S ILLUSTRATIVE ANECDOTES
as its motto, "He trusted in God; let him deliver him
now." "Yes," he thought, "now." In prayer he cast
himself upon the Lord, and felt in his heart, " Come on,
doctors, I am ready for you." When the next morning
came, he refused to take chloroform, for he desired to
go to heaven in his senses. He bore the operation man
fully, and he is yet alive.
God Our Defender.-— Contend not with a man who has God
at his back. Years ago, the Mentonese desired to break
away from the dominion of the Prince of Monaco. They
therefore drove out his agent. The prince came with his
army, not a very great one, it is true, but still formidable
to the Mentonese. I know not what the high and mighty
princeling was not going to do; but news came that
the King of Sardinia was coming up in the rear to help
the Mentonese, and therefore his lordship of Monaco
very prudently retired to his own rock. When a be
liever stands out against evil he may be sure that the
lord of hosts will not be far away. The enemy shall
hear the dash of his horse-hoof and the blast of his trum
pet, and shall flee before him. Wherefore be of good
courage, and compel the world to say of you, " He trusted
in the Lord that he would deliver him."
The Father's Love.— Your dear children do not trouble
themselves much, do they? If they have a want, they
go to father; if they are puzzled, they ask father; if
they are ill-treated, they appeal to father. If but a
thorn is in their finger, they run to mother for relief.
Be it little or great, the child's sorrow is the parent's
care. This makes a child's life easy : it would make ours
easy if we would but act as children towards God. Let
us imitate the Elder Brother, and when we, too, are in
our Gethsemane, let us, as he did, continue to cry, " My
Father, My Father." This is a better defence than shield
or sword.
GOD 135
God's Consideration. — A person may happen to do you
a good turn; but if you are sure that he did it by acci
dent, or with no more thought than that wherewith a
passing stranger throws a penny to a beggar, you are
not impressed with gratitude. But when the action of
your friend is the result of earnest deliberation, and you
see that he acts in the tenderest regard to your welfare,
you are are far more thankful: traces of anxiety to do
you good are very pleasant. Have I not heard persons
say, " It was so kind and so thoughtful of him ! " Do
you not notice that men value kindly thought, and set
great store by tender consideration! Remember, then,
that there is never a thoughtless action on the part of
God. His mind goes with his hand: his heart is in his
acts. He thinks so much of his people, that the very
hairs of their heads are all numbered : he thinks not only
of the great thing, but of all the little things which are
incidental to the great thing; as the hairs are to the
head. Every affliction is timed and measured, and every
comfort is sent with a loving thoughtfulness which makes
it precious in a sevenfold degree. 0 believer, the great
thoughtfulness of the divine mind is exercised towards
you, the chosen of the Lord.
God's Pity. — The old father had a very long range of eye
sight; and tho the prodigal could not see him in the dis
tance, he could see the prodigal. And the father's first
thought when he saw him was this — " 0 my poor son,
0 my poor boy ! that ever he should have brought himself
into such a state as this ! " He looked through his tele
scope of love, and he saw him, and said, "Ah! he did
not go out of my house in such trim as that. Poor crea
ture, his feet are bleeding; he has come a long way, I'll
be bound. Look at his face, he doesn't look like the same
boy he was when he left me. His eye that was so bright,
is now sunken in its socket; his cheeks that once stood
i36 SPURGEON'S ILLUSTRATIVE ANECDOTES
out with fatness, have now become hollow with famine.
Poor wretch, I can tell all his bones, he is so emaciated."
Instead of feeling any anger in his heart, he felt just
the contrary; he felt such pity for his poor son. And
so the Lord feels for you.
God's Fatherhood.— A child may be happy at school, but
he longs for the holidays. Is it merely to escape his
lessons ? Ah, no ! Ask him, and he will tell you. " I
want to go home to see my father." The same is equally
true, and possibly more so, if we include the feminine
form of parentage. What a home-cry is that of
" mother ! " The sight of that dear face has been longed
and hungered for by many a child when far away.
Mother or father, which you will; they are blended in
the great Fatherhood of God. Let it but be said that
any one has gone to his father, and no further question
is asked as to the right of his going thither. To the
father belongs the first possession of the child; should
he not have his own child at home? The Savior wipes
our tears away with a handkerchief which is marked in
the corner with this word — " Father."
At Home in God's Arms.— I had a great sorrow yesterday
of speaking to a dear brother whom I had hoped would
be spared for great usefulness in a distant land; but
he had just received from the doctor's examination the
solemn information that he was hopelessly diseased. We
proposed that he should go to the seaside; but I saw
which way his heart went. He thought of his wife and
his habitation, and he said, "Let me go home. If I
must die, let it be in my own house." He spoke as I
should have done in like case. At home one might not
have all the skill of the hospital at command; but one
would be sure of a certain priceless tenderness which
no nurse can rival. Lord, thou hast been my dwelling-
place: I will die in thy arms. When I am sick and
GOD 137
weary there is none like thee, my God ! When my heart
breaks and all things seem lost, none can bind it up but
thee, my God!
God's Defence of His Children. — A man is generally much
grieved with any one who injures his children. I have
known a man behave patiently to his neighbors, and
put up with a great deal from them; but when one of
them has struck his child I have seen him incensed to the
last degree. He has said, "I cannot stand that, I will
not look on and see my own children ill-used." The
Lord says, " He that touches you touches the apple of
my eye." Jesus rises from his throne in glory and
stands up indignantly while his servant Stephen is being
stoned. If I had no other amusement whatever, I would
not for merriment sake mock the people of God; for
it will go hard with those who make unhallowed mirth
out of the saints of the Most High.
The Patience of God.— They said of Cranmer that he was
more than ready to forgive, for he always returned good
for evil. It was a common saying, u Do my Lord of
Canterbury an ill turn, and he will be your friend as
long as you live." That was fine; but my lord of
Canterbury was nothing in gentleness compared with the
Father of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. The holy
Leighton, also was of such a gentle spirit that one day
when he went out for a walk and came back he could
not get into his own house, for it was locked up, and
his servant had gone away for a day's fishing without
leave or notice. All the good man said was, " John,
next time you go fishing, please to let me know, or at
least leave me the key, so that I may open the door."
That was all. If even men have come up to such a de
gree of patience, much more will you find longsuffering
in God.
138 SPURGEON'S ILLUSTRATIVE ANECDOTES
Imitating God.— "Be ye imitators of God, as dear chil
dren : " not as slaves might imitate their master — un
willingly, dreading the crack of his whip; but loving,
willing imitators, such as children are. You do not urge
your children to imitate you; they do this even in their
games. See how the boy rides his wooden horse, and
the girl imitates her nurse. You see the minister's little
boy trying to preach like his father; and you all re
member the picture of the tiny girl with a Bible in front
of her and an ancient pair of spectacles upon her nose,
saying, " Now I'm grandmamma." They copy us by
force of nature: they cannot help it. Such will be the
holiness of the genuine Christian. He is born from above,
and hence he lives above. His imitation of God springs
out of his relationship to God. Holiness must be spon
taneous, or it is spurious. We cannot be driven to holi
ness like a bullock to his ploughing; we must delight in
the law of God after the inward man. " Be ye imitators
of God, as dear children/' because you do not wish for
anything better than to be like your Father, and have
no ambition in the world that approaches your aspira
tion to be holy even as God is holy, according to that
word, "Be ye perfect even as your Father which is in
heaven is perfect."
Under the Divine Shadow.— A Christian lady not long
ago dreamed a dream which was not a dream, but fact.
She saw herself as surrounded with God ; encircled above,
beneath, and all around, as with a blaze of light. Bril
liance inconceivable made a pavilion for her; and while
she stood in the midst of the glory she saw all her cares
and her troubles, and her temptations, and her sins,
wandering about outside of the wall of light, unable to
reach her. Unless that light itself should open and make
a way for them she was serenely secure, altho she could
see the perils which else would destroy her. Is not
GOD 139
the Lord a wall of fire round about us, and the glory
in the midst? Is it not written, "He that dwelleth in
the secret place of the Most High shall abide under the
shadow of the Almighty?"
Chastening a Pledge of Fatherly Love.-— If any one should
say to a father, after he had chastened his child, " Why
is it you have chastened the child ? " he would not say,
it is because I am his father. It is true in one sense;
but he would say, " I have chastened the child because
he has done wrong." Because the proximate reason why
he had chastened his child would not be that he was his
father, tho that would have something to do with it
as a primary reason; but the absolute and primary
cause would be, " I have chastened him because he has
done wrong, because I wish to correct him for it, that
he might not do so again." Now, God, when he chastens
his children, never does it absolutely; because he is his
father; but he does it for a wise reason. He has some
other reason besides his fatherhood. At the same time,
one reason why God afflicts his children and not others,
is because he is their Father. If you were to go home
to-day and see a dozen boys in the streets throwing stones
and breaking windows it is very likely you would start
the whole lot of them; but if there is one boy that
would get a sweet knock on the head it would be your
own ; for you would say, " What are you at, John ?
What business have you here ? " You might not be jus
tified, perhaps, in meddling with the others — you would
let their own fathers attend to them; but because you
were his father, you would tiy to make him remember it.
Certain special chastisements are inflicted on God's chil
dren, because they are his children; but it is not because
they are his children that he chastens them at any one
time, but because they have been doing something wrong.
Now, if you are under chastisement, let this truth be
i4o SPURGEON'S ILLUSTRATIVE ANECDOTES
certain to you. Are the consolations of God small with
thee? Is there any secret thing with thee? Art thou
chastened in thy busines? Then what sin hast thou
committed'? Art thou cast down in thy spirit? Then
what transgression has brought this on thee? Remem
ber, it is not fair to say, " I am chastened because I
am his child ; " the right way to say it is, u I am his
child, and therefore when he chastens me has a reason
for it."
Give God the Rudder.-— True wisdom is sure to set folly
in a strong light. I have heard of a young man who
went to college; and when he had been there one year,
his parent said to him, " What do you know ? Do you
know more than when you went ? " " Oh ! yes," said
he, "I do." Then he went the second year, and was
asked the same question — " Do you know more than
when you went ? " " Oh ! no," said he, " I know a great
deal less." "Well," said the father, "you are getting
on." Then he went the third year, and was asked the
same question — " What do you know now?" "Oh!"
said he, "I don't think I know anything." "That is
right," said the father; "you have now learnt to profit,
since you say you know nothing." He who is convinced
that he knows nothing of himself as he ought to know,
gives up steering his ship, and lets God put his hand on
the rudder.
GOODNESS
Genuine Piety.-— When a great Grecian artist was fash
ioning an image for the temple he was diligently carv
ing the back part of the goddess, and one said to him,
"You need not finish that part of the statue, because it
is to be built into the wall." He replied, " The gods
can see in the wall." He had a right idea of what is
GOODNESS 141
due to God. That part of my religion which no man
can see should be as perfect as if it were to be observed
by all. The day shall declare it. When Christ shall
come everything shall be made known, and published be
fore the universe. Therefore see to it that it be fit to be
thus made known.
Good but Good for Nothing.— T heard the other day of
a Sunday-school address in America which pleased me
much. The teacher, speaking to the boys, said, " Boys,
here's a watch, what is it for ? " The children answered,
" To tell the time." " Well," he said, " suppose my watch
does not tell the time, what is it good for ? " " Good-
for-nothing, sir." Then he took out a pencil. " What
is this pencil for ? " " It is to write with, sir." " Sup
pose this pencil won't make a mark, what is it good for? "
"Good-for-nothing, sir." Then he took out his pocket-
knife. "Boys, what is this for?" They were American
boys, and so they shouted,— " to whittle with,"— that is
to experiment on any substance that came in their way
by cutting a notch in it. "But," said he, "suppose it
will not cut, what is the knife good for?" "Good-for-
nothing, sir." Then the teacher asked, " What is the
chief end of man? " and they replied, " To glorify God."
" But suppose a man does not glorify God, what is he
good for?" "Good-for-nothing, sir." That brings out
my point most clearly; there are many professors of
whom I will not say that they are good-for-nothing,
but methinks if they do not soon stir themselves up to
glorify God by proclaiming the sweetness of God's love
it will go hard with them. Remember how Jesus said of
the savourless salt "henceforth it is good for nothing."
What were you converted for? What were you forgiven
for? What were you renewed for? What have you
been preserved on earth for but to tell to others the glad
tidings of salvation and so to glorify God? Do, then,
i42 SPURGEON'S ILLUSTRATIVE ANECDOTES
go out with your hands full of the honey of divine love
and hold it out to otherr
GRATITUDE
Gratitude for Spiritual Blessings. — I was preaching this
week for a young minister, and being anxious to know
his character, I spoke of him with apparent coolness to
an estimable lady of his congregation. In a very few
moments she began to warm in his favor. She said,
" You must not say any thing against him, sir ; if you
do, it is because you do not know him." " Oh," I said,
" I knew him long before you did ; he is not much, is he f "
" Well," she said, " I must speak well of him, for he has
been a blessing to my servants and family." I went out
into the street, and saw some men and women standing
about ; so I said to them, " I must take your minister
away." " If you do," they said, " we will follow you all
over the world, if you take away a man who has done so
much good to our souls." After collecting the testimony
of fifteen or sixteen witnesses, I said, " If the man gets
such witnesses as these let him go on; the Lord has
opened his mouth, and the devil will never be able to
shut it." These are the witnesses we want — men who
can sing with the angels because their own households
are converted to God.
Gratitude for Salvation.— It strikes me with wonder when
I see how many of the very greatest of sinners have be
come the most useful of men. Do you see John Bunyan
yonder? He is cursing God. He goes into the belfry
and pulls the bell on Sunday, because he likes the bell-
ringing; but when the church door is open, he is playing
bowls upon the village green. There is the village tap,
and there is no one that laughs so loud as John Bunyan.
There are some people going to the meeting-house; there
GRATITUDE 143
is no one curses them so much as John. He is a ring
leader in all vice. If there is a hen-roost to be robbed,
Jack's your man. If there is any iniquity to be done,
if there is any evil in the parish, you need not guess twice,
John Bunyan is at the bottom of it. But who is it
stands there in the dock before the magistrate1? Who is
it I hear just now —"If you will let me out of prison
to-day, I will preach the gospel to-morrow, by the help
of God ? " Who was it that lay twelve years in prison,
and when they said he might go out if he would promise
not to preach, replied, " No, I will be here till the moss
grows on mine eyelids, but I must and will preach God's
gospel as soon as I have liberty f " Why, that is John
Bunyan, the very man who cursed Christ the other day.
A ringleader in vice has become the glorious dreamer, the
very leader of God's hosts. See, what God did for him,
and what God did for him he will do for you, if now
you repent and seek the mercy of God in Christ Jesus.
" He is able, he is willing, doubt no more."
Expressing Gratitude.— We read in the paper some time
ago that the King of Italy, to his great honor, appeared
in a court of law on behalf of a man brought under
charge of causing death. The king had seen the accident,
and he came forward as a common witness in the court
to say that the horse had mastered the driver, and the
man was not to be blamed. I do not know the name
of the man, but I feel pretty sure that Jacobi or An
tonio, whoever he may be, if ever King Humbert wants
somebody to speak up for him, he will find a friend in
him: he will say, "My King came into court and spoke
for me, and I will as long as ever I live speak up for
him." Now, the Lord Jesus Christ is an advocate for
you, therefore be an advocate for him. Can you ever
Tie silent for Christ now that the Lord Christ has re-
144 SPURGEON'S ILLUSTRATIVE ANECDOTES
deemed you from the curse of the law and the penalty
of sin? I tell you, if you can be quiet and do nothing
for Christ, I am afraid you have never tasted of his love
and grace.
HEARERS
Hearers, but Not Doers.—- Beware of being like John Bun-
yan's trees that were green outside, but inwardly rotten,
and only fit to be tinder for the devil's tinder-box. Oh "
beware of saying as some of you do, "I go, sir," while
you go not. I sometimes see sick people who quite alarm
and distress me. I say to them, " My dear friend, you
are dying; have you a hope?" There is no answer.
"Do you know your lost state?" "Yes, sir." " Christ
died for sinners." "Yes, sir." "Faith gives us of his
grace." " Yes, sir." They say, " Yes, sir ; yes, sir ; yes,
sir; yes, sir; yes, sir." I sometimes wish before God
they would contradict me, for if they would but have
honesty enough to say, " I do not believe a word of it,"
I should know how to deal with them. Stubborn oaks
are levelled by the gale, but those who bend like the
willow before every wind, what wind shall break them?
Oh, dear brethren, beware of being gospel-hardened; or
what is the same thing, softened but for a season. Be
ware of being a promising hearer of the word, and
nothing more!
Personal Application of Truth. — A minister once sent his
deacon to attend a certain anniversary service. The dis
course turned upon Diotrephes, who loved the pre
eminence. The deacon's character was aptly described.
He did not, however, agree with the preacher. He was
himself a Diotrephes, though he failed to detect his own
portrait; or at least, with apparent indifference, he asked
a friend of his if he supposed there were such persons
existing as those who had been described in the discourse ?
HEART
" I cannot think," said he, " who the preacher could have
been aiming at?" So his friend said, "Well, I think
he must have been intending you and me." No better
answer could have been given. I like each hearer to make
the application to himself.
Deaf Hearers. — Many years ago a friend said that he could
not hear me preach. I said to him, " Buy a horn."
"No," he said, "it is not your voice; I can hear that,
but I don't enjoy it." My reply was : " Perhaps that
is my fault, but I am far from sure that it is not your
own." I fear, in such cases, it is quite as often the
hearer's fault as the preacher's fault. At any rate, when
others profit, and our judgment approves, tho our
hearts find no refreshment, there is reason to suspect that
in the dulness of our senses we are compelled to bear
chastisement for our unblief. You go where others go,
and find no solace. You hear what edifies and comforts
them; but there is no cheer for you. You are deaf; your
ears are closed to what the Lord says.
HEART
Writing on the Heart. — I have marvelled at the expres
sion used in the text, " I will write my law in their
hearts." To write on a heart must be difficult work but to
write in a heart, in the very centre of the heart, who can
do this but God? A man cuts his name upon a tree in
the bark, and there it stands, and the letters grow with
the tree ; but to cut his name in the heart of the tree —
how shall he accomplish this? And yet God doth divine
ly engrave his will and his law in the very heart and
nature of man !
The Burglar in the Heart.— I do not believe that a man
becomes a villain all at once. He puts his soul to school,
his thoughts are his teachers, or rather they are the
146 SPURGEON'S ILLUSTRATIVE ANECDOTES
school-books in which his soul reads; and at last he be
comes capable of transacting the deeds of a scoundrel.
If you think long upon any sin, the chances are that, as
soon as the temptation to that sin comes, you will com
mit it. I have known persons produce a monomania by
constant brooding upon one object. I did once know
a man who was constantly apprehensive that he was be
ing poisoned by people; and I always stood in trepida
tion for that man, lest he should poison himself. If you
will harbor the thought — if you will ruminate on any
sin, turn it over, and advise with it on your pillow; your
affability will disarm your fear ; and the traitor you have
harbored will betray you before your suspicions are
aroused. Beware, then, of all thoughts of sin. If you
show a thief all the locks and bolts and bars in your
house, and tell him how the cellar-window could be
opened, or the back-door be made to give way, do
not be surprised if, one of these nights, you should find
all your goods stolen. If you introduce these evil
thoughts into your habitation, you cannot wonder at the
consequence, however startled your friends may be at
the detection.
Tainted Food. — When I am asked to read a heretical book
I think of good John Newton. Dr. Taylor, of Norwich,
said to him : " Have you read my Key to the Romans? "
" I have turned it over," said the doctor. " And is this
the treatment a book must meet with which has cost me
so many years' hard study; you ought to have read it
carefully, and weighed deliberately what comes forward
on so serious a subject." " Hold," said Newton, " you
have cut me out full employment for a life as long as
Methuselah's. My life is too short to be spent in read
ing contradictions of my religion. If the first page tells
me the man is undermining truths, it is enough for me.
If I had the first mouthful of a joint tainted, I do not
HEART 147
want to eat it through to be convinced; I ought to send
it away." Having the truth confirmed in us, we can
laugh all arguments to scorn ; we are plated in a sheet of
mail when we have a witness within us to God's truth.
All the men in this world can not make us alter one
single iota of what God has written within us.
Keeping the Heart Pure.— It would be of little use for our
water companies to keep their reservoirs full, if they did
not also keep them pure. I remember to have read a
complaint in the newspaper of a certain provincial town,
that a tradesman had been frequently supplied with fish
from the water company, large eels having crept down
the pipe, and sometimes creatures a little more loath
some. We have known such a thing as water companies
supplying us with solids when they ought to have given
us nothing but pure crystal. Now, no one likes that.
The reservoir should be kept pure and clean; and unless
the water comes from a pure spring, and is not impreg
nated with deleterious substances, however full the reser
voir may be, the company will fail of satisfying or of
benefiting its customers. Now it is essential for us to do
with our hearts as the company must do with its reser
voir. We must keep our hearts pure; for if the heart
be not pure, the life can not be pure. It is quite im
possible that it should be so.
The Wicked Heart. — An officer in India had tamed a
leopard. From the time when it was quite a kitten he
had brought it up, till it went about the house like a
cat, and everybody played with it; but he was sitting
in his chair one day asleep, and the leopard licked his
hand — licked it in all innocence ; but as he licked, the
skin was broken, and the taste of blood came to the
leopard, and from that moment it was not content to
dwell with men. It rushed forth to kill, and was no more
at ease till it reached the jungle. That leopard, tho
148 SPURGEON'S ILLUSTRATIVE ANECDOTES
tamed, was a leopard still. So a man, sobered by moral
motives, but unchanged in heart, is a fallen man still,
and the taste of blood, I mean the taste of sin, will soon
reveal the tiger in him. Wash a Russian, and you find
a Tartar; tempt a moralist, and you discover a sinner!
The thin crust of goodness, which is formed by education,
soon disappears under temptation. You may be every
thing that looks like good, but except you have been
born again you must remember you are still capable of
the direst evil.
The Trouble Within.— The wise man saith, " As a bird
that wandereth from her nest, so is a man that wander-
eth from his place." It is not the box that makes the
jewel, nor the place that makes the man. " Oh, but any
where rather than this ! " Yes, and when you get into
the place you now covet, you will pine to be back again.
A barren tree is none the better for being transplanted.
A blind man may stand at many windows before he will
improve his view. If it is difficult to produce good
works where you are, you will find it still difficult whero
you wish to be. He who said that he leaped so many
yards at Rhodes, was asked to do the same feat at home ;
surely the place could not take away his strength, nor
give it to him.
Oh, sirs, the real difficulty lies not without you, but
within you.
Gospel Hardened.— It is quite possible for a minister to
preach too long to any one set of people, if they get so
accustomed to the tones of his voice that they are never
aroused. The "click, click" of the mill gets to be so
custoinary to the miller that he goes to sleep. Over in
Bankside, I am told, when a man is first put inside a
boiler while the rivets are being fastened, he cannot stop
long, the noise is so dreadful, but after a time the boiler-
maker gets so used to the horrible din that he can al-
HEAVEN 149
most go to sleep inside. Well, now, so it really is under
any ministry when the people get gospel-hardened.
The Hardening Heart. — Have you ever seen sponges that
have been turned into flints? Well, that is a slow
process, it takes a long time. The like process, however,
is gradually happening to you; every year you are get
ting more flinty. The drip, drip, drip of this world's
care and sin is petrifying you. You are getting stony.
It strikes me the best time to repent in is this moment;
and the very best season in which to fly to Jesus is now.
Ere yet the clock has ticked again your heart will have
grown more callous. It certainly does not soften. When
will there be any influence more potent than there is
now to help you?
HEAVEN
Only the Good Would be Happy in Heaven. — Some of
you could not be happy if you were allowed to enter that
heaven. If you could be admitted between those pearly
gates which forever exclude pollution, sin, and shame,
you could not be happy there. Shall I tell you whyf
It is a land of spirit, and you have neglected your spirit;
some of you even deny that you have a spirit, and I do
not wonder that you say so, because I do not suppose
that you have ever exercised it; but let a man who has
delighted to commune with the Holy Spirit enter into the
spirit-world, and he will be in his element! Besides, the
world to come is a holy world; the engagements of dis
embodied spirits are all pure and lovely. What will that
man do who loved drunkenness, who indulged in unclean
habits? He will be out of his element. If he could be
in heaven, as Whitfield used to say, he would ask God
to let him out, and would run into hell for shelter, for
heaven would be a dreadful place to an ungodly man.
There is a dream which is told (I tell it not for the dream.
150 SPURGEON'S ILLUSTRATIVE ANECDOTES
but for the moral of it) of a young woman who imagined
that she was in heaven unconverted, and thought she saw
upon the pavement of transparent gold multitudes of
spirits dancing to the sweetest music. She stood still,
unhappy, motionless, silent, and when the King said to
her, "Why do you not partake in the joy?" she answered,
"I cannot join in the dance, for I do not knew the
measure; I cannot join in the song, for I do not know
the tune ; " then said he in a voice of thunder, " What
dost thou here ? " And she thought herself cast out for
ever. Ah, dear hearer ! heaven is a prepared place for a
prepared people. If you do not learn heaven's language
on earth you must know you cannot learn it in the world
to come.
Not Yet Due in heaven. — Whitefield and a company of
ministers were talking together and expressing their de
sire to go to heaven. Good Mr. Tennant was the only
man who differed from them. He said he did not wish
to die; and he thought that if his brother Whitefield
would but consider for a time, he would not wish to be
gone either ; for, he said, if you hire a man to do a day's
work, and he is saying all the day, " I wish it were even
ing; I wish it were time to go home," you would think,
" What a lazy fellow he is ; " and you would wish you
' / had never engaged him. " So," he said, " I am afraid
it is nothing but our idleness that often prompts us to
desire to be away from our work." If there be a soul to
win, let me stop until I have won it. Truly, some of us
might summon up courage enough to say, " I would fain
barter heaven for the glory of Christ, and not only wait
twenty years out of heaven if I may have twenty years
of glorifying him the better, but wait out altogether if I
may outside heaven sing to him sweeter songs, and honor
him more than I can inside its walls; for outside heaven
shall be heaven to me if it shall help me to glorify my
HEAVEN 151
Lord and Master the better." You have heard, I dare
say, that anecdote of good Mr. Whitefield, in his early
ministry, lying down, as he thought, to die, in a high
fever, and a poor negro woman sitting by his side and
tending him. In his sad moments, Whitefield thought of
dying ; but the black woman said, " No, Master White-
field, you are not to die yet : there are thousands of souls
to bring to Christ ; so keep up your spirits, for you must
live, and not die; your Master has yet a work for you
to do."
No Strife in Heaven.— An old Scotch elder had been dis
puting with his minister at an elders' meeting. He said
some hard things, and almost broke the minister's heart.
Afterwards he went home, and the minister went home
too. Next morning the elder came down, and his wife
said to him, "Eh, Jan! ye look very sad this morning.
What's the matter wi' ye? " " Ah ! " said he, " you would
be sad, too, if you had had such a dream as I've had."
"Weel, and what did ye dream about?" "Och! I
dreamed I had been at an elders' meeting, and I said
some hard things and grieved the minister; and as he
went hame I thought he died and went to heaven. A
fortnight after, I thought I died, and that I went to
heaven, too. And when I got to the gates of heaven, out
came the minister and put out his hand to take me, say
ing, ' Come alang, Jan, there's nae strife up here, and
I'm happy to see ye.' " The elder went to the minister
to beg his pardon directly, but he found he was dead;
and he laid it so to heart that within a fortnight the
elder himself departed. And I should not wonder if he
did meet the minister at heaven's gates, and hear him say,
"Come alang, Jan! there's nae strife up here." It
would be good for us to recollect that there is no strife
up there. Glorified saints have not strife among them
selves ; and we should love one another more in brotherly
152 SPURGEON'S ILLUSTRATIVE ANECDOTES
kindness if we thought more of heaven and more of our
blessed Jesus.
Recognition of Friends in Heaven. — I always thought that
a quietus to the question which the wife of old John
Ryland asked : " Do you think," she said, " you will
know me in heaven ? " " Why," said he, " I know you
here ; and do you think I shall be a bigger fool in heaven
than I arn on earth1?"* The question is beyond dispute.
We shall live in heaven with bodies, and that decides the
matter. We shall know each other in heaven; you may
take that for a positive fact, and not mere fancy.
Memory of Earth's Mercies a Joy in Heaven.— I think
Dr. Watts is right when he says that we shall " with
transporting joys recount the labors of our feet." It is
rather a small subject, and probably we shall far more
delight to dwell on the labors of our Redeemer's hands
and feet; but still we shall remember all the way where
by the Lord our God led us, and we shall talk to one
another concerning it. In heaven we shall remember
our happy Sabbaths here below, when our hearts burned
within us while Jesus himself drew near. Since Jesus
speaks after he has risen of the things that he said
while he was with his disciples, we perceive that the
river of death is not like the fabled Lethe, which caused
all who drank thereof to forget their past. We shall
arise with a multitude of hallowed memories enriching
our minds. Death will not be oblivion to us, for it was
not so to Jesus. Rather shall we meditate on mercies
experienced, and by discoursing thereon we shall make
known to principalities and powers the manifold wisdom
of God.
The Rewards of Heaven.— Here comes Whitfield, the man
who stood before twenty thousand at a time to preach
the gospel, who in England, Scotland, Ireland, and
America has testified the truth of God, and who could
HEAVEN 153
count his converts by thousands, even under one sermon !
Here he comes, the man that endured persecution and
scorn, and yet was not moved — the man of whom the
world was not worthy, who lived for his fellow men, and
died at last for their cause; stand by angels and admire,
while the Master takes him by the hand and says, " Well
done, well done, good and faithful servant; enter thou
into the joy of thy Lord ! " See how free grace honors
the man whom it enabled to do valiantly. Hark! Who
is this that comes there? a poor thin-looking creature,
that on earth was a consumptive; there was a hectic
flush now and then upon her cheek, and she lay three long
years upon her bed of sickness. Was she a prince's
daughter, for it seems heaven is making much stir about
her? No, she was a poor girl that earned her living by
her needle, and she worked herself to death ! — Stitch,
stitch, stitch, from morning to night ! and here she comes.
She went prematurely to her grave, but she is coming,
like a shock of corn fully ripe, into heaven; and her
Master says, "Well done, thou good and faithful serv
ant, thou hast been faithful in a few things, I will make
thee ruler over many things; enter thou into the joy of
thy Lord." She takes her place by the side of Whitfield.
Ask what she ever did, and you find out that she used to
live in some back garret down some dark alley in London ;
and there used to be another poor girl come to work with
her, and that poor girl, when she first came to work
with her, was a gay and volatile creature, and this con
sumptive child told her about Christ; arid they used,
when she was well enough, to creep out of an evening
to go to chapel or to church together. It was hard at
first to get the other one to go, but she used to press her
lovingly; and when the girl went wild a little, she never
gave her up. She used to say, " 0, Jane, I wish you
loved the Savior ; " and when Jane was not there she used
154 SPURGEON'S ILLUSTRATIVE ANECDOTES
to pray for her, and when she was there she prayed with
her : and now and then when she was stitching away, read
a page out of the Bible to her, for poor Jane could not
read. And with many tears she tried to tell her about
the Savior who loved her and gave himself for her. At
last, after many a day of hard persuasion, and many an
hour of sad disappointment, and many a night of sleep
less tearful prayer, at last she lived to see the girl pro
fess her love to Christ; and she left her and took sick,
and there she lay till she was taken to the hospital,
where she died. When she was in the hospital she used
to have a few tracts, and she used to give them to those
who came to see her; she would try, if she could, to get
the women to come around, and she would give them a
tract. When she first went into the hospital, if she
could creep out of bed, she used to get by the side of one
who was dying, and the nurse used to let her do it; till
at last she got too ill, and then she used to ask a poor
woman on the other side of the ward, who was getting
better, and was going out, if she would come and read
a chapter to her; not that she wanted her to read to her
on her own account, but for her sake, for she thought it
might strike her heart while she was reading it. At last
this poor girl died and fell asleep in Jesus; and the poor
consumptive needle-woman had said to her, " Well done n
— and what more could an archangel have said to her?
— "she hath done what she could."
HINDRANCES
Overcoming Hindrances. — You remember in John Bun-
yan's Life he says that one Sunday, when he was playing
on the village green at a game of cat, he was just about
to strike the cat when a voice came to him from heaven,
and said, " Wilt thou have thy sins and go to hell, or
leave thy sins and go to heaven *? " And he stood there
HINDRANCES 155
in the midst of his companions and paused, and they
could not think what ailed the tinker while he was dis
puting in his mind which it should be, Christ and heaven,
or his sins and hell. Now, whatever your hindrance is
— be it money, be it worldly ambition, or be it any fond
passion of the flesh — whatever it is, give it up. If it
be thy right hand, thou hadst better cut it off, and cast
it from thee, than keeping it seal thine endless doom. If
it be thy right eye, 'twere better for thee to pluck it out,
than having two eyes to be cast into hell fire.
Overcoming Difficulties. — I have known a brother wanting
to go abroad to preach the gospel to the heathen, but a
great many difficulties have been thrown in his way, and
therefore he has said, " I can see that I am not called to
go." Why not? Is no man called unless his way is
easy? I should think myself all the more called to a
service if I found obstacles in my way. The course of
true service never did run smooth. I should say, " The
devil is trying to hinder me, but I will do it in spite of
all the devils in hell." Will you always be wanting to
have your bread buttered for you on both sides? Must
your road be gravelled, and smoothed with a garden
roller? Are you a carpet knight, for whom there is to
be no fighting? You are not worthy to be a soldier of
Jesus Christ at all if you look for ease.
Meet Difficulties Bravely.-— I was once staying in the north
of Scotland, where there was a ferocious dog chained up.
He came out and I patted him, and he jumped up with
his fore- feet upon me ; I caressed him, and he seemed par
ticularly fond of me. The master came out. " Come
away, my dear sir," said he, " that dog will rend you to
pieces." But I did not know it, and when I passed by
he seemed to know I was not at all afraid of him, so he
didn't meddle with me. In like manner, Christians, be
not terrified at your adversaries.
156 SPURGEON'S ILLUSTRATIVE ANECDOTES
HOPE
Hope " The Swimming Thought."— You know what the
New Zealanders call hope; they call it in their language
" the swimming thought," because it always floats and
never sinks. You cannot drown it; it always keeps its
head above the wave. When you think you have
drowned the Christian's hope, up it comes all dripping
from the brine, and cries again, " Hope thou in God, for
I shall yet praise him ! " Hope is the nightingale that
sings in the night; faith is the lark that mounts up
towards heaven; but hope is the nightingale that cheers
the valley in the darkness.
Hope of Immortality.— To-day we are like birds in the
egg; so long as the shell is whole we are not free: death
breaks the shell. Does the fledgling lament the dissolu
tion of the shell? I never heard of a bird in its nest
pining over its broken shell; no, its thought runs other
wise: to wings, and flight, and sunny skies. So let it be
with us. This body will be dissolved: let it be so; it is
meet it should be. We have been glad of it while we
have needed it, and we thank God for the wondrous sk^ll
displayed in it; but when we no longer require it we shall
escape from it as from imprisonment, and never wish to
return to its narrow bounds.
The Fountain of Hope. — A rich man has a cistern full of
riches, but a poor saint has got a fountain of mercy, and
he is the richest who has a fountain. Now, if my neigh
bor be a rich man, he may have as much wealth as ever
he pleases, it is only a cistern full, it will soon be ex
hausted; but a Christian has a fountain that ever flows,
and let him draw, draw on forever, the fountain will still
keep on flowing. However large may be the stagnant
pool, if it be stagnant, it is but of little worth; but the
HOPE 157
flowing stream, tho it seem to be but small, needs but
time, and it will have produced an immense volume of
precious water. Thou are never to have a great pool of
riches, they are always to keep on flowing to thee ; " Thy
bread shall be given thee, and thy water shall be sure."
As old William Huntingdon says, " The Christian has a
hand-basket portion. Many a man, when his daughter
marries, does not give her much, but he says to her, ' I
shall send you a sack of flour one day, and so-and-so the
next day, and now and then a sum of gold; and as long
as I live I will always send you something." Says he,
" She will get a great deal more than her sister, who has
had a thousand pounds down. That is how my God deals
with me; he gives to the rich man all at once, but to me
day by day." Ah, Egypt, thou wert rich when thy
granaries were full, but those granaries might be emptied ;
Israel was far richer when they could not see their
granaries, but only saw the manna drop from heaven,
day by day. Now, Christian, that is thy portion — the
portion of the fountain always flowing, and not of the
cistern-full, and soon to be emptied.
Saved Through Blasted Hopes. — You have all heard the
old story of the celebrated painter who was painting in
St. Paul's, and who, looking at his work, went gradually
back, inch by inch, to get a view of it, so that he might
see the excellence of its proportions, until his feet were
just on the edge of the platform upon which he stood;
and he would have fallen down and been dashed in
pieces upon the pavement beneath, but just at that mo
ment a workman who stood there, desirous to save his life,
and not knowing how to do it, hit upon an expedient
which proved to be a very wise one. Instead of shout
ing out to his master, " Sir, you are in danger," which
would most certainly have sent him backward, he took
up a brush, and dipping it in a pot of paint, dashed it at'
158 SPURGEON'S ILLUSTRATIVE ANECDOTES
the picture. The good man rushed forward in anger to
chastise him; but when it was explained, he clearly saw
that he had acted wisely.
HUMILITY
Humility Necessary.— He gives us temporal mercies, and
then we presumptuously say, "My mountain standeth
firm; I shall never be moved/' We meet with the poor
saints, and we begin to hector over them, as if we were
something, and they were nothing. We find some in
trouble; we have no sympathy with them; we are bluff
and blunt with them, as we talk with them about their
troubles; yea, we are even savage and cruel with them.
We meet with some who are in deep distress and faint
hearted; we begin to forget when we were faint-hearted
too, and because they cannot run as fast as we can, we
run far ahead, and turn back and look at them, call
them sluggards, and say they are idle and lazy. And
perhaps even in the pulpit, if we are preachers, we have
got hard words to say against those who are not quite so
advanced as we are. Well, mark, there never was a saint
yet, that grew proud of his fine feathers, but what the
Lord plucked them out by and by. There never yet was
an angel that had pride in his heart, but he lost his
wings, and fell into Gehenna, as Satan and those fallen
angels did; and there shall never be a saint who indulges
self-conceit, and pride, and self-confidence, but the Lord
will spoil his glories, and trample his honors in the mire,
and make him cry out yet again, " Lord, have mercy
upon me," less than the least of all saints, and the " very
chief of sinners."
Humility in Prayer. — When we come to God, our prayers
are little broken things; we can not put them together;
but our Father, he will hear us. Oh! what a beginning
IMMORTALITY 159
is " Our Father," to a prayer full of faults, and a fool
ish prayer perhaps, a prayer in which we are going to
ask what we ought not to ask for ! " Father, forgive
the language! forgive the matter! " As one dear brother
said the other day at the prayer meeting,— he could not
get on in prayer, and he finished up on a sudden by say
ing, "Lord, I can not pray to-night as I should wish; I
can not put the words together; Lord, take the meaning,
take the meaning," and sat down. That is just what
David said once, " Lo, all my desire is before thee " —
not my words, but my desire.
IMMORTALITY
The Healing of Death.— At Stratford-on-Bow, in the days
of Queen Mary, there was once a stake erected for the
burning of two martyrs, one of them a lame man, the
other a blind man. Just when the fire was lit, the lame
man hurled away his staff, and turning round, said to
the blind man, " Courage, brother, this fire will cure us
both." So can the righteous say of the grave, " Cour
age, the grave will cure us all; we shall leave our in
firmities behind us." What patience this should give us
to endure all our trials, for they are not of long duration.
Immortality.— I have often thought that the child of God
is very much like the Crusaders. The Crusaders started
off on their journey, and they had to fight their way
through many miles of enemies, and to march through
leagues of danger. You remember, perhaps, in history,
the story that when the armies of the Duke of Bouillon
came in sight of Jerusalem, they sprang from their
horses, clapped their hands, and cried, " Jerusalem, Jeru
salem, Jerusalem ! " They forgot all their toils, all the
weariness of the journey and all their wounds, for there
was Jerusalem in their sight. And how will the saint at
160 SPURGEON'S ILLUSTRATIVE ANECDOTES
last cry, " Jerusalem ! Jerusalem ! " when all sorrow, and
all poverty and sickness are past, and he is blest with
immortality.
" The Land of the Living."— A saint was once dying, and
another who sat by him said — " Farewell, brother, I
shall never see you again in the land of the living."
" Oh," said the dying man, " I shall see you again in the
land of the living that is up yonder, where I am going;
this is the land of the dying." Oh, brethren and sisters,
if we should never meet again in the land of the dying,
have we a hope that we shall meet in the land of the
living and drink the best wine at last?
INFIDELITY
Paul Not an Agnostic. — Let us pass on to consider how
Paul could say he knew this. This wonderfully enlight
ened nineteenth century has produced an order of wise
men who glory in their ignorance. They call themselves
"Agnostics," or knownothings. When I was a boy it
would have seemed odd to me to have met with a man
who gloried in being an ignoramus, and yet that is the
Latin for that Greek word " Agnostic." Is it not sin
gular to hear a man boastfully say, " I am an igno
ramus"? How different is our apostle! He says "we
know."
Infidelity a Frail Support.-— In the backwoods of Canada
there resided a good minister, who one evening went out
to meditate, as Isaac did, in the fields. He soon found
himself on the borders of a forest, which he entered, and
walked along a track which had been trodden before
him; musing, musing still, until at last the shadows of
twilight gathered around him, and he began to think how
he should spend a night in the forest. He trembled at
the idea of remaining there, with the poor shelter of a
INFIDELITY 161
tree into which he would be compelled to climb. On ft
sudden he saw a light in the distance, among the trees,
and imagining that it might be from the window of some
cottage where he would find a hospitable retreat, he
hastened to it, and to his surprise saw a space cleared,
and trees laid down to make a platform, and upon it a
speaker addressing a multitude. He thought to himself,
" I have stumbled on a company of people, who in this
dark forest have assembled to worship God, and some
minister is preaching to them, at this late hour of the
evening, concerning the kingdom of God, and his right
eousness ; " but to his surprise and horror, when he came
nearer, he found a young man declaiming against God,
daring the Almighty to do his worst upon him, speaking
terrible things in wrath against the justice of the Most
High, and venturing most bold and lawful assertions con
cerning his own disbelief in a future state. It was alto
gether a singular scene; it was lighted up by pine-knots,
which cast a glare here and there, while the thick dark
ness in other places still reigned. The people were intent
on listening to the orator, and when he sat down thun
ders of applause were given to him; each one seeming
to emulate the other in his praise. Thought the minister,
" I must not let this pass ; I must rise and speak ; the
honor of my God and his cause demands it." But he
feared to speak, for he knew not what to say, having
come there suddenly; but he would have ventured, had
not something else occurred. A man of middle age, hale
and strong, rose, and leaning on his staff, he said : " My
friends, I have a word to speak to you to-night. I am
not about to refute any of the arguments of the orator;
I shall not criticise his style ; I shall say nothing concern
ing what I believe to be the blasphemies he has uttered;
but I shall simply relate to you a fact, and after I have
done that you shall draw your own conclusions. Tester-
162 SPURGEON'S ILLUSTRATIVE ANECDOTES
day I walked by the side of yonder river; I saw on its
floods a young man in a boat. The boat was unmanage
able; it was going fast toward the rapids; he could not
use the oars, and I saw that he was not capable of bring
ing the boat to the shore. I saw that young man wring
his hands in agony; by-and-by he gave up the attempt
to save his life, kneeled down and cried with desperate
earnestness, i 0, God ! save my soul ! If my body can
not be saved, save my soul/ I heard him confess that he
had been a blasphemer; I heard him vow that if his life
were spared he would never be such again; I heard him
implore the mercy of heaven for Jesus Christ's sake, and
earnestly plead that he might be washed in his blood.
These arms saved that young man from the flood; I
plunged in, brought the boat to shore, and saved his life.
That same young man has just now addressed you, and
cursed his Maker. What say you to this, sirs'?" The
speaker sat down. You may guess what a shudder ran
through the young man himself, and how the audience
in one moment changed their notes, and saw that after
all, while it was a fine thing to brag and bravado against
Almighty God on dry land, and when danger was distant,
it was not quite so grand to think ill of him when near
the verge of the grave. We believe there is enough con
science in every man to convince him that God must
punish him for his sin; therefore we think that our text
will wake an echo in every heart.— "If he turn not, he
will whet his sword."
INVITATION
The Pearl of Great Price.— I will suppose this morning
that I am sent here by high authority to sell the Koh-i-
noor, or a diamond worth ten thousand times as much, a
jewel worth a thousand millions of pounds. I am bound
to sell it to you now, but I am sure you cannot purchase
INVITATION 163
it at any price worthy of it ; all you could offer would be
BO small a portion of its value that I would sooner give it
away than lower the repute of the jewel by taking such
a trifle for it. The gospel is so precious a thing that if
it is bought the whole world could not pay for it, and
therefore, if bought at all it must needs be without money
and without price.
The Bell of Welcome.— At the top of the Hospice of St.
Bernard, in the storm, when the snow is falling fast, the
monks ring the great bell, and when the way cannot be
seen, the traveller can almost hear the way to the house
of refuge across the snowy waste. So would I ring that
bell this morning. Poor lost traveller, with thy sins and
thy fears blowing cold into thy face, " Come and wel
come, come and welcome," to a Savior once dead and
buried for thee, but now risen and pleading at the right
hand of God. If thou canst not see thy way, yet hear it.
"Hear, and your soul shall live; and he will make an
everlasting covenant with you, even the sure mercies of
David."
"Whosoever Will."— "Ah!" saith one, "God knows I
am willing, but still I do not think I am worthy." No,
I know you are not, but what is that to do with it ? It is
not " whosoever is worthy" but " whosoever will, let him
come." " Well," says one, " I believe that whosoever
will, may come, but not me, for I am the vilest sinner out
of hell." But hark thee, sinner, it says, "whosoever."
What a big word that is! Whosoever! There is no
standard-height here. It is of any height and any size.
Little sinners, big sinners, black sinners, fair sinners,
sinners doubled-dyed, old sinners, aggravated sinners,
sinners who have committed every crime in the whole
catalogue,— whosoever. Doth this exempt one? Who
can be excluded from this whosoever? It mattereth not
who thou mayest be, nor what thou mayest have been, if
164 SPURGEON'S ILLUSTRATIVE ANECDOTES
thou art willing to be saved; free as the air thou
breathest is the love and grace of God. " Whosoever
will, let him take the water of life freely."
Whosoever. — I am deeply in love with that word " who
soever." It is a splendid word. A person who kept
many animals had some great, dogs and some little ones,
and in his eagerness to let them enter his house freely
he had two holes cut in the door, one for the big dogs
and another for the little dogs. You may well laugh,
for the little dogs could surely have come in wherever
there was room for the larger ones. This " whosoever " is
the great opening, suitable for sinners of every size.
" Whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die."
JOY
Christian Gladness.— There is an expression in the Greek
that never has been rendered into English, and never will
be.— ayoAAiao-tfe. Old Trapp half puns upon the agal-
liasthe as he says, "dance a galliard." I do not know
what a " galliard " was, but I suppose that it was some
very joyous kind of dance. Certainly we know of no
better way of translating our Lord's word than by —
exult, or leap for joy. Even when your good name shall
be tarnished by the malice of the wicked, then you are
to leap. When are you to be wretched? Surely de
spondency is excluded. If slander is to make us dance,
when are we to fret? Suppose some other kind of trial
should come upon you, you are still to rejoice in the Lord
always.
Afraid of Gladness.— I have known some very good people
spoiled for practical usefulness, and spoiled as to being
like the Lord Jesus Christ, by their deeply laid con
viction that it was wicked to be glad. Well do I remem
ber an earnest Christian woman who saw me when I
JOY 165
was first converted, full of the joy of the Lord, and
joyfully assured of my salvation in Christ Jesus. She
seemed distressed at the sight of so much joy. She shook
her head. She looked at me with that heavenly-minded
pity which these good people usually lay by in store.
It seemed to her a dreadful thing that so young a
Christian should dare to know whom he had believed.
If you had been a Christian a hundred years you might
perhaps begin to think it possible that you were saved;
but to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ straight away,
like a little child, and at once to rejoice in his salvation,
seemed to this dear old Christian woman to be an act of
such shocking temerity that she could only shake her dear
head and prognosticate all sorts of horrible things. Since
then I have found a great many like her.
Superiority of Christian Joy.— The joy which we wear is
far superior to any which the evil one can offer us; and
so his temptation has lost its power. What can the devil
offer a joyous Christian? Why, if he were to say to
him, " I will give thee all the kingdoms of the world
and the glory thereof, if thou wilt fall down and worship
me, the believer would reply to him, " Fiend, I have
more than that. I have perfect contentment; I have
absolute delight in God. My soul swims in a deep sea
of bliss as I think of God." The devil will speedily quit
such a man as that; for the joy of God is an armor
through which he cannot send the dagger of his tempta
tion.
The Honey of Christian Experience. — There were no
plates and dishes out there in that Timnath vineyard, and
so his own hands were the only salvers upon which Sam
son could present the delicacy,—" he took thereof in his
hands, and came to his father and mother, and he gave
them, and they did eat." Perhaps you think, " If I am
to speak to any person upon true religion, I should
166 SPURGEON'S ILLUSTRATIVE ANECDOTES
like to do it in poetry." Better do it in prose, for per
haps they will take more notice of your verse than of
your subject. Give them the honey in your hands, and
if there is no dish they cannot take notice of the dish.
"Ay, but I should like to do it very properly," says
one; "it is a very important matter, I should like to
speak most correctly." But my judgment is, that, as
you will not be likely to attain to correct speech all in
a hurry, and your friends may die while you are learning
your grammar and your rhetoric, you had better tell
them of Jesus according to your present ability. Tell
them there is life in a look at Jesus. Tell them the story
simply, as one child talks to another. Carry the honey
in your hands, though it drip all round; no hurt will
come of the spilling, there are always little ones waiting
for such drops. If you were to make the gospel drip
about everywhere, and sweeten all things, it would be no
waste, but a blessed gain to all around. Therefore, I
say to you, tell of Jesus Christ as best you can, and
never cease to do so while life lasts.
Overflowing Christian Joy. — The moment a man is con
verted, if he would let himself alone, his instincts would
lead him to tell his fellows. I know that the moment
I came out of that little chapel wherein I found the
Savior, I wanted to pour out my tale of joy. I could
have cried with Cennick —
"Now will I tell to sinners round,
What a dear Saviour I have found;
I'll point to thy redeeming blood,
And say, ' Behold the way to God ! ' "
I longed to tell how happy my soul was, and what a
deliverance I had obtained from the crushing burden
of sin. I longed to see all others come and trust my
JUDGMENT 167
Lord and live! I did not preach a sermon, but I think
I could have told out all the gospel at that first hour.
Joy Without Bitterness. — Did you never cry for joy?
You say, perhaps, " Not since I was a child." Nor have
I; but I have always remained a child as far as divine
joy is concerned. I could often cry for joy when I
know whom I have believed and am persuaded that he is
able to keep that which I have committed to him.
Ours is a joy which will bear thinking over. You
can dare to pry into the bottom of it and test its founda
tion. It is a joy which does not grow stale; you may
keep it in your mouth by the year together, and yet it
never cloys; you may return to it again, and again, and
again, and find it still as fresh as ever. And the best of
it is there is no repentance after it. You are never sorry
that you were so glad. The world's gay folk are soon sick
of their drink; but we are only sorry that we were not
gladder still, for our gladness sanctifies. We are not de
nied any degree of joy to which we can possibly attain,
for ours is a healthy, health-giving delight. Christ is the
fulness of joy to his people, and we are bidden to enjoy
him to the full. Christians have their sweets, and those
are as honey and the honeycomb, the best of the best.
JUDGMENT
Judgment Warped by Personal Considerations. — We have
heard, I dare say, the story of the lawyer who was
waited upon by a farmer, to ask him what would be
the penalty for a man whose horse was always getting
into his neighbor's field and eating his corn, whether it
would be heavy; he had warned him several times, and
he always would do it, and it was his fence, and he
ought to have mended it. The lawyer said of course
there would be a considerable fine, no doubt, and so on.
"Well," said he, "sir, it is your horse that has done
168 SPURGEON'S ILLUSTRATIVE ANECDOTES
this." "Oh!" said our friend, the solicitor, "that is
quite a different question; I did not know it was my
horse before I gave my opinion." So it is, generally,
with regard to anything that is done amiss, if it hurts
you, or if it hurts me, we always feel very indignant
about it, but if it only offends the Majesty of heaven we
make light of it.
LIFE
Human Kindness.— I like Luther with a wife and chil
dren. I like to see him with his family and a Christmas-
tree, making music with little Johnny Luther on his
knee. I love to hear him sing a little hymn with the
children, and tell his pretty boy about the horses in
heaven with golden bridles and silver saddles. Faith had
not taken away his manhood, but sanctified it to noblest
uses. Luther did not live and move as if he were a
mere cleric, but as a brother to our common humanity.
True Wisdom.— Copernicus declared the truth that the
earth and the planets revolve around the sun. His oppo
nents replied that this could not be true, for if the planet
Venus revolved around the sun, she must present the
same phases as the moon. This was very true. Coperni
cus looked up to Venus, but he could not see those phases,
nor could any one else, nevertheless he stuck to his state
ment, and said, " I have no reply to give, but in due
time God will be so good that an answer will be found."
Copernicus died, and his teaching had not yet been
justified; but soon after Galileo came forward with his
telescope, and on looking at Venus he saw that she did
pass through exactly the same changes as the moon.
Thus wisdom is justified of her children. Truth may
not prevail to-day or to-morrow, but her ultimate victory
is sure.
LIFE 169
Known by Our Deeds.— " Ye shall know them by their
fruits" But how am I to know a man's fruits'? By
watching him one dayt I may, perhaps, form a guess
of his character by being with him for a single hour;
but I could not confidently pronounce upon a man's true
state even by being with him for a week. George White-
field was asked what he thought of a certain person's
character. " I have never lived with him," was his very
proper answer.
Idle Dreams. — Rowland Hill said to a lady, who knew she
was a child of God, because she dreamed such and such
a thing : " Never mind, ma'am, what you did when you
were asleep ; let us see what you do when you are awake."
A Wasted Life. — Your sins cannot keep you from the
jaws of death. I say, sinner, I want thee to look at
Christ's sepulchre, too, for when thou diest it may have
done thee great good to think of it. You have heard of
Queen Elizabeth, crying out that she would give an em
pire for a single hour. Or have you heard the despair
ing cry of the gentleman on board the " Arctic," when it
was going down, who shouted to the boat, " Come back !
I will give you £30,000 if you will come and take me
in." Ah! poor man, it were but little if he had thirty
thousand worlds, if he could thereby prolong his life:
" Skin for skin, yea, all that a man hath, will he give
for his life." Some of you who can laugh this morn
ing, who came to spend a meriy hour in this hall, will
be dying, and then ye will pray and crave for life, and
shriek for another Sabbath-day. Oh! how the Sabbaths
ye have wasted will walk like ghosts before you! Oh!
how they will shake their snaky hair in your eyes ! How
will ye be made to sorrow and weep, because ye wasted
precious hours, which, when they are gone, are gone too
far to be recalled. May God save you from the pangs
of remorse.
170 SPURGEON'S ILLUSTRATIVE ANECDOTES
Light Needed for the Feet. — Some people make use of
Christ's gospel to illuminate their heads, instead of
making use of it to illuminate their hearts. They are
like the farmer Rowland Hill once described. The
farmer is sitting by the fire with his children; the cat
is purring on the hearth, and they are all in great com
fort. The plowman rushes in and cries, " Thieves !
thieves ! thieves ! " The farmer rises up in a moment,
grasps the candle, holds it up to his head, rushes after
the thieves, and, says Rowland Hill, " he tumbles over
a wheelbarrow, because he holds the light to his head, in
stead of holding it to his feet." So there are many who
just hold religion up to illuminate their intellect, instead
of holding it down to illuminate their practice; and so
they make a sad tumble of it, and cast themselves into
the mire, and do more hurt to their Christian profession
in one hour than they will ever be able to retrieve.
The Blessedness of Old Age.— Some time ago, I stepped
up to an old man whom I saw when preaching at an
anniversary, and I said to him, "Brother, do you know
there is no man in the whole chapel I envy so much as
you ! " " Envy me," he said, " why, I am eighty-seven."
I said, "I do, indeed; because you are so near your
home, and because I believe that in old age there is a
peculiar joy, which we young people do not taste at
present. You have got to the bottom of the cup, and
it is not with God's wine as it is with man's. Man's
wine becomes dregs at the last, but God's wine is sweeter
the deeper you drink of it." He said, " That's very true,
young man," and shook me by the hand. I believe there
is a blessedness about old age that we young men know
nothing of. I will tell you how that is. In the first
place the old man has a good experience to talk about.
The young men are only just trying some of the prom
ises; but the old man can turn them over one by
LIFE 171
one, and say, "There, I have tried that, and that, and
that." We read them over and say, "I hope they are
true," but the old man says, " I know they are true." And
then he begins to tell you why. He has got a history
for every one, like a soldier for his medals; and he takes
them out and says, "I will tell you when the Lord re
vealed that to me: just when I lost my wife; just when
I buried my son; just when I was turned out of my
cottage, and did not get work for six weeks; or, at
another time, when I broke my leg." He begins telling
you the history of the promises, and says, " There, now,
I know they are all true." What a blessed thing, to
look upon them as paid notes; to bring out the old
checks that have been cashed, and say, " I know they
are genuine, or else they would not have been paid."
Making Our Own Epitaph. — When the Eastern Emperors
were crowned at Constantinople, it is said to have been
a custom for the royal mason to set before his majesty
; a certain number of marble slabs, one of which he was
to choose to be his tombstone. It was well for him to
remember his funeral at his coronation. I bring before
you now the unwritten marbles of life: which will you
have, holiness, or sin, Christ or self? When you have
chosen, you will begin to write the inscription upon it;
for your life's works will be your memorial.
The Frailty of the Human Body.— Paul was accustomed
to make tents. I do not suppose he ever manufactured
any very large or sumptuous ones — probably he did not
own capital enough for that, but he was a tent worker
and mender. The use of tents was common enough
among the Roman people in Paul's day. The gentry
delighted in bright pavilions which they could set up
at pleasure, but the commoner folk found pleasure in
spending a part of their time under canvas. Whilst he
was sitting writing this letter it is most likely that Paul
172 SPURGEON'S ILLUSTRATIVE ANECDOTES
had a tent or two to repair lying near his hand, and
this suggested to him the language of the verse before
us. When a tent is newly placed it is but a frail struc
ture, very far removed from the substantiality of a
house; in that respect it is exactly like this feeble cor
poreal frame of ours, which is crushed before the moth.
Paul felt that his body would not need any great force
to overthrow it; it was like the tent which the Midianite
saw in his dream, which only needed to be struck by a
barley cake, and lo! it lay along. A house of solid
masonry may need a crowbar and a pick to start its
stones from their places, but feebler tools will soon
overturn a tent and make a ruin of it. The body is
liable to dissolution from causes so minute as to be im
perceptible — a breath of foul air, an atom of poisonous
matter, a trifle, a mere nothing, may end this mortal
life. I hope that you and I duly remember the frailty
of our bodies.
Frailty of Human Life. — I saw the other day an encamp
ment of gipsies out upon the common; many of this
wandering race were sitting under a coarse covering
sustained by sticks, I should exaggerate if I called them
poles; and I could not help feeling that such an abode
was all veiy well on a warm day, but not at all desirable
when the east-wind was blowing, or a shower of sleet
was driving along, or a deluge of rain descending.
The Loneliness of Life. — Samson was not hunting for
wild beasts; he was engaged on a much more tender
business. He was walking in the vineyards of Timnath,
thinking of anything but lions, and "behold," says the
Scripture, "a young lion roared against him." It was
a remarkable and startling occurrence. He had left his
father and mother and was quite alone; no one was
within call to aid him in meeting his furious assailant.
Human sympathy is exceedingly precious, but there are
LIFE i?3
points in our spiritual conflict in which we cannot expect
to receive it. To each man there are passages in life too
narrow for walking two abreast. Upon certain crags
we must stand alone. As our constitutions differ, so our
trials, which are suited to our constitutions, must differ
also. Each individual has a secret with which no friend
can intermeddle; for every life has its mysteiy and its
hid treasure. Do not be ashamed, young Christian, if
you meet with temptations which appear to you to be
quite singular: we have each one thought the same of
his trials. You imagine that no one suffers as you do,
whereas no temptation hath happened unto you but such
as is common to man, and God will with the temptation
make a way of escape that you may be able to bear it.
Yet for the time being you may have to enter into fel
lowship with your Lord when he trod the wine-press
alone, and of the people there was none with him. Is not
this for your good? Is not this the way to strength?
What kind of piety is that which is dependent upon the
friendship of man? What sort of religion is that which
cannot stand alone? Beloved, you will have to die alone,
and you need therefore grace to cheer you in solitude.
Uncertain Tenure of Life. — Have you not been startled by
the news that a neighbor or acquaintance, with whom you
chatted a day or two ago, is dead? "Dead!" you said.
" Why, he was in my shop only a few days ago ! Dead !
Why, he seemed to be in good health, strong in body,
vigorous in mind, full of plans and projects; I should
have thought of any man being dead sooner than he ! "
Do not you recollect the time when you heard the bell
toll for a near relative, and when you stood over the
open grave? Ah, then, when the dust fell upon the
coffin-lid, and the words were uttered, "Dust to dust,
ashes to ashes," each of those thundering morsels said,
"I have a message from God unto thee,"
174 SPURGEON'S ILLUSTRATIVE ANECDOTES
LOVE
Loving Our Neighbors.— It would be a good thing if some
ladies loved their neighbors as much as they loved their
lap-dogs. It would be a fine thing for many a country
squire if he loved his neighbors as much as he loved his
pack of hounds. I think it might be a high pitch of
virtue, if some of you were to love your neighbors as
much as you love some favorite animal in your house.
What an inferior grade of virtue, however, that appears
to be! And yet it were something far superior to what
some of you have attained to. You do not love your
neighbor as you love your house, your estate, or your
purse. How high then is, " Love thy neighbor as thy
self " the gospel standard ? How much does a man love
himself? None of us too little, some of us too much.
Thou mayest love thyself as much as thou pleasest, but
take care that thou lovest thy neighbor as much. I am
certain thou needest no exhortation to love thyself, thine
own case will be seen to, thine own comfort will be a
very primary theme of thine anxiety. Thou wilt line
thine own nest well with downy feathers, if thou canst.
There is no need to exhort thee to love thyself. Thou
wilt do that well enough. Well, then, as much as thou
lovest thyself love thy neighbor.
Christian Love Needed. — An evangelist brings into the
congregation all the poor people of the district, and the
very worst of characters gather to hear him. This ought
to be a great joy, but in certain cases it is not. Many
are offended, and in effect say, "'Not so, Lord/ Well,
really, I — I — I do not like sitting next to one who is
dressed so badly, and smells so vilely. I saw a woman
of loose character come in, and I felt as if I must leave
my pew." Oh, you very respectable people, you know
that you get into that state of mind! You do not say
MERCY 175
much about it when we hear you, because you know that
it would not answer your purpose; yet you squeeze up
against the corner of the pew to get away from the poor
and needy. Do you not? If a man with a smock-frock,
or with a dirty face, comes in here, you would just as
soon that he should sit on the flaps in the aisle as sit
in your seat, and a great deal sooner, I dare say. There
is a great deal of that kind of feeling about, and it may
be very natural, but it certainly betrays feebleness of
Christian love.
MERCY
The Music of Mercy.— When loitering upon the Island
of Liddo, off Venice, and listening to the sound of the
city's bells, I thought the music charming as it floated
across the lagune; but when I returned to the city, and
sat down in the center of the music, in the very midst
of all the bells, the sweetness changed to a horrible
clash, the charming sounds were transformed into a
maddening din; not the slightest melody could I detect
in any one bell, while harmony in the whole company
of noisemakers was out of the question. Distance had
lent enchantment to the sound. The words of poets and
eloquent writers may, as a whole, and heard from afar,
sound charmingly enough; but how few of them bear a
near and minute investigation! Their belfry rings pas
sably, but one would soon weary of each separate bell.
It is never so with the divine words of Jesus. You hear
them ringing from afar and they are sweetness itself.
When as a sinner, you roamed at midnight like a traveller
lost on the wilds, how sweetly did they call you home!
But now you have reached the house of mercy, you sit
and listen to each distinct note of love's perfect peal,
and wonderingly feel that even angelic harps cannot
excel it.
176 SPURGEON'S ILLUSTRATIVE ANECDOTES
The Stream of Mercy.— There is the stream of mercy,
deep, broad, and clear : you have drunk of it, and are re
freshed, but it is as full as ever. It will flow on, will
it not? You do not suppose that you and I have
dammed up the stream so as to keep it to ourselves.
No, it is too strong, too full a stream for that. It will
flow on from age to age. God will bless others as he
has blessed us. Unbelief whispers that the true church
will die out. Do not believe it. Christ will live, and
his church will live with him till the heavens be no more.
Hath he not said, " Because I live, ye shall live also ? "
" Oh," you say, " but we shall not see such holy men
in the next generation as in past ages." Why not? I
hope the next age will see far better men than any of
those who are with us at this time. Pray that it may
be so. Instead of the fathers, may there be the chil
dren, and may these be princes before the Lord!
Covenant Mercies.— I like to think of the old Scotch
woman, who not only blessed God for the porridge as
she ate it, but thanked God that she had a covenant-
right to the porridge. Daily mercies belong to the
Lord's household by covenant-right; and that same cov
enant-right which will admit us into heaven above, also
gives us bread and water here below. The trifles in the
house, and the jewels of the house, equally belong to
the children. We may partake of the common mercies
of providence, and the extraordinary mercies of grace,
without stint. None of the dainties of the royal house
are locked up from the children. The Lord says to
each believer, " Son, thou art ever with me, and all that
I have is thine." " Ye are Christ's and Christ is God,"
and therefore "all things are yours."
Mercy Through Christ.— Once on a time, Mercy sat upon
her snow-white throne, surrounded by the troops of love.
A sinner was brought before her, whom Mercy designed
MERCY 177
to save. The herald blew the trumpet, and after three
blasts thereof, with a loud voice, he said, " 0 heaven and
earth, and hell, I summon you this day to come before
the throne of Mercy, to tell why this sinner should not
be saved." There stood the sinner, trembling with fear;
he knew that there were multitudes of opponents, who
would press into the hall of Mercy, and with eyes full
of wrath, would say, "He must not, and he shall not
escape ; he must be lost ! " The trumpet was blown, and
Mercy sat placidly on her throne, until there stepped in
one with a fiery countenance; his head was covered with
light; he spoke with a voice like thunder, and out of
his eyes flashed lightning! "Who art thou?" said
Mercy. He replied, "I am Law; the law of God."
" And what hast thou to say ? " "I have this to say,"
and he lifted up a stony tablet, written on both sides;
"these ten commands this wretch has broken. My de
mand is blood ; for it is written, ' The soul that sinneth
it shall die/ Die he, or Justice must." The wretch
trembles, his knees knock together, the marrow of his
bones melts within him, as if it were ice dissolved by
fire, and he shakes with very fright. Already he thought
he saw the thunderbolt launched at him, he saw the light
ning penetrate into his soul, hell yawned before him in
imagination, and he thought himself cast away for ever.
But Mercy smiled, and said, "Law, I will answer thee.
This wretch deserves to die; Justice demands that he
should perish — I award thee thy claim." And, 0 ! how
the sinner trembles. " But there is one yonder who has
come with me to-day, my King, my Lord; his name is
Jesus; he will tell you how the debt can be paid, and
the sinner can go free." Then Jesus spake, and said,
" 0 Mercy, I will do thy bidding. Take me, Law ; put
me in a garden; make me sweat drops of blood; then
nail me to a tree ; scourge my back before you put me to
178 SPURGEON'S ILLUSTRATIVE ANECDOTES
death; bang me on the cross; let blood run from my
hands and feet; let me descend into the grave; let me
pay all the sinner oweth; I will die in his stead." And
the Law went out and scourged the Savior, nailed him
to the cross, and coming back with his face all bright
with satisfaction, stood again at the throne of Mercy,
and Mercy said, " Law, what hast thou now to say ? "
"Nothing," said he; "fair angel, nothing." "What!
not one of these commands against him1?" "No, not
one. Jesus, his substitute, has kept them all — has paid
the penalty for his disobedience; and now, instead of his
condemnation, I demand, as a debt of Justice, that he
be acquitted." " Stand thou here," said Mercy ; " sit
on my throne; I and thou together will now send forth
another summons." The trumpet rang again.' " Come
hither, all ye who have aught to say against this sinner,
why he should not be acquitted ; " and up comes another
— one who often troubled the sinner — one who had a
voice not so loud as that of the Law, but still piercing
and thrilling — a voice whose whispers were like the
cuttings of a dagger. "Who art thou?" says Mercy.
" I am Conscience ; this sinner must be punished ; he
has done so much against the law of God that he must be
punished; I demand it; and I will give him no rest till
he is punished, nor even then, for I will follow him
even to the grave, and persecute him after death with
pangs unutterable." " Nay," said Mercy, " hear me ; "
and while he paused for a moment, she took a bunch
of hyssop and sprinkled Conscience with the blood, say
ing, " Hear me, Conscience, l The blood of Jesus Christ,
God's Son, cleanseth from all sin.' Now has thou aught
to say ? " " No," said Conscience, " nothing —
" * .Covered is his unrighteousness ;
From condemnation he is free.'
MERCY 179
Henceforth I will not grieve him; I will be a good con
science unto him, through the blood of our Lord Jesus
Christ." The trumpet rang a third time, and growling
from the innermost vaults, up there came a grim black
fiend, with hate in his eyes, and hellish majesty on his
brows. He is asked, " Hast thou anything against that
sinner 1 " " Yes," said he, " I have ; he has made a
league with hell, and a covenant with the grave, and
here it is, signed with his own hand. He asked God to
destroy his soul in a drunken fit, and vowed he would
never turn to God ; see here is his covenant with hell ! "
" Let us look at it," said Mercy ; and it was handed up,
while the grim fiend looked at the sinner, and pierced
him through with his black looks. "Ah! but," said
Mercy, " this man had no right to sign the deed ; a man
must not sign away another's property. This man was
bought and paid for long beforehand ; he is not his own ;
the covenant with Death is disannulled, and the league
with hell is rent in pieces. Go thy way, Satan." " Nay,"
said he, howling again, " I have something else to say :
that man was always my friend; he listened ever to my
insinuations; he scoffed at the gospel; he scorned the
majesty of heaven: he is to be pardoned, while I repair
to my hellish den, for ever to bear the penalty of guilt ? "
Said Mercy, " Avaunt, thou fiend; these things he did
in the days of his unregeneracy ; but this word ' never
theless ' blots them out. Go thou to thy hell; take this
for another lash upon thyself — the sinner shall be par
doned, but thou — never, treacherous fiend ! " And then
Mercy, smilingly turning to the sinner, said, " Sinner,
the trumpet must be blown for the last time ! " Again
it was blown, and no one answered. Then stood the
sinner up, and Mercy said, " Sinner, ask thyself the
question — ask thou of heaven, of earth, of hell —
whether any can condemn thee ? " And the sinner stood
i8o SPURGEON'S ILLUSTRATIVE ANECDOTES
up, and with a bold, loud voice, said, " Who shall lay
anything to the charge of God's elect ? " And he looked
into hell, and Satan lay there, biting his iron bonds; and
he looked on earth, and earth was silent; and in the
majesty of faith the sinner did even climb to heaven
itself, and he said, "Who shall lay anything to the
charge of God's elect1? God?" And the answer came,
"No; he justifieth." "Christ?" Sweetly it was whis
pered, " No ; he died." Then turning round, the sinner
joyfully exclaimed, " Who shall separate me from the
love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord ? " And
the once condemned sinner came back to Mercy; pros
trate at her feet he lay, and vowed henceforth to be hers
for ever, if she would keep him to the end, and make him
what she would desire him to be. Then no longer did
the trumpet ring, but angels rejoiced, and heaven was
g]ad, for the sinner was saved.
God's Mercy for All.— Let us divide these creatures once
more. There were creeping things, and there were flying
things. On the morning when the ark door was opened,
you might have seen in the sky a pair of eagles, a pair
of sparrows, a pair of vultures, a pair of ravens, a pair
of humming-birds, a pair of all kinds of birds that ever
cut the azure, that ever floated on wing, or whispered
their song to the evening gales. In they came. But
if you had watched down on the earth, you would have
seen come creeping along a pair of snails, a pair of
snakes, and a pair of worms. There ran along a pair
of mice, there came a pair of lizards, and in there flew
a pair of locusts. There were pairs of creeping creatures,
as well as pairs of flying creatures. Do you see what I
mean by that? There are some of you that can fly so
high in knowledge, that I should never be able to scan
your great and extensive wisdom; and others of you so
ignorant, that you can hardly read your Bibles. Never
PEACE 181
mind; the eagle must come down to the door, and you
must go up to it. There is only one entrance for you all ;
and as God saved the birds that flew, so he saved the
reptiles that crawled. Are you a poor, ignorant, crawl
ing creature, that never was noticed — without intellect,
without repute, without fame, without honor? Come
along, crawling one! God will not exclude you. I
have often wondered how the poor snail crawled in; but
I dare say he started many a year before. And some of
you have started for years, and still you keep crawling
on. Ah! then, come along with thee, poor snail! If I
could just pick thee up, and help thee on a yard or two,
I would be glad to do it. It is strange how long you
have been nigh to the ark, but not yet entered in; how
long you have been near the portals of the church, but
never joined it.
PEACE
The Peace of God.— There is Martin Luther standing up
in the minds of the Diet of Worms; there are the kings
and the princes, and there are the bloodhounds of Rome
with their tongues thirsting for his blood — there is Mar
tin rising in the morning as comfortable as possible,
and he goes to the Diet, and delivers himself of the
truth, solemnly declares that the things which he has
spoken are the things which he believes, and God helping
him, he will stand by them till the last. There is his
life in his hands; they have him entirely in their power.
The smell of John Huss's corpse has not yet passed
away, and he recollects that princes before this have
violated their words; but there he stands, calm and
quiet ; he fears no man, for he has naught to fear ; " the
peace of God which passeth all understanding" keeps
his heart and mind through Jesus Christ. There is an
other scene: there is John Bradford in Newgate. He is
182 SPURGEON'S ILLUSTRATIVE ANECDOTES
to be burned the next morning in Smithfield, and he
swings himself on the bedpost in very glee, and delights,
for to-morrow is his wedding-day; and he says to an
other, " Fine shining we shall make to-morrow, when
the flame is kindled." And he smiles and laughs, and
enjoys the veiy thought that he is about to wear the
blood-red crown of martyrdom. Is Bradford mad? Ah.
no ; but he has got the peace of God that passeth all un
derstanding.
A Peaceful Mind. — I compare not the peaceful mind to a
lake without a ripple. Such a figure would be inade
quate. The only comparison I can find is in that un
broken tranquility which seems to reign in the deep
caverns and grottoes of the sea — far down where the
sailor's body lies, where the sea-shells rest undisturbed,
where there is nought but darkness, and where nothing
can break the spell, for there are no currents there, and
all is still — that is somewhat like the Christian's soul
when God speaks to him. There may be billows on
the surface, by these he may be sometimes ruffled, but
inside the heart there will be no ebb or flow ; he will have
" eternal peace with God," a " peace that passeth all
understanding," too deep to fathom, too perfect to con
ceive, for none but they who prove it know: such peace
that you could to-night lay your head down to sleep
with the knowledge that you would never wake again
in this world as calmly as you could if you knew your
days were like Hezekiah's, lengthened out for a certainty
of fifteen years. When we have peace with God, we
can lie down, and if an angel visited ua to say, " Soul,
your Master calls you," we could reply, " Tell my Mas
ter, I am ready. And if grim death were to come stalk
ing to our bed-side, and were to say, " The pitcher is
broken at the fountain, and the well is broken at the
cistern: thou shalt die!" we might answer, "Die! we
PRAYER 183
die willingly; we are prepared; we are not afraid; we
have peace with God, through our Lord Jesus Christ ; we
have peace here, and we are willing to go and have that
peace consummated up yonder in the better world."
Peace in Jesus Only. — I have heard of one who had been
into the Enquiry Room a dozen times, and when on an
other occasion she was invited to go there she said, " I
really do not know why I should go, for I have been
told that I was saved twelve times already, and I am
not a bit better than before they told me so." It would
be better to send some home weeping rather than re
joicing. Many a wound needs the lancet more than the
plaster. You may be comforted by well-meant assur
ances of tender friends, and yet that comfort may be all
a lie. I therefore warn you against any peace except
that which comes from doing that which Jesus com
mands, or in other words, against any confidence except
that which rests in Jesus only, and is attended with re
pentance, faith, and a life of obedience to your Lord.
PRAYER
Empty Prayers.— You know that into the inward soul,
and marrow, and bowels of devotion you have never yet
learned to plunge. You know your devotion is like that
ox which was slain once in the time of siege in Rome,
and was said to portend ill, because when the augur slew
it he declared he could not find a heart anywhere. He
looked through all the entrails, and no heart could he
discover; and hence, the Romans said their city must be
destroyed. It was a solemn augury, they said, when the
sacrifice had no heart in it. It is just the same with you.
You have done all these things; oh! yes, and there has
been as much reality in what you have done as there
was devotion in the poor Kalmuck's windmill, when he
tied the prayer to it, and put it up in the garden, and
184 SPURGEON'S ILLUSTRATIVE ANECDOTES
every time it blew round, that wab just one more prayer.
There was as much heart in your prayer as there was in
his windmill; that is to say, none at all. There it is!
How far have you got? Go on no longer with this use
less round of performances. I would not have you give
the performances up. Stop awhile, and ask God to give
you that inward spirit that quickeneth, for that is what
is needed, " The flesh profiteth nothing."
Exaltation in Prayer.— I was much struck the other ev
ening at a prayer-meeting, by the prayer of one of our
brethren, which came home to my heart. When he
prayed, he said, " 0 Lord, give me Mary's place —
' Oh ! that I might, with Mary sit
For ever at my Master's feet,
And learn of him.'"
He prayed that he might have her part, and always sit at
the feet of Jesus. But, by and by, the good man kindled
up in his prayer, and said, " No, my Master, I have not
asked enough of thee. Mary's place is too low for me,
if I may have a better. Lift me up higher, Lord; give
me John's place.
' Oh ! that I might, with favored John,
For ever lean my head upon
The bosom of my Lord.' "
Then again he pleaded for that higher degree of com
munion between the soul and Christ. " Surely," thought
I, "now you have asked enough." But, suddenly rising
up to another flight on the wings of communion, like
the eagle taking its last soar into the skies, he said, " No,
Lord, John's place doth not suffice me. Thou hast lifted
me from thy feet to thy bosom — now from thy bosom
to thy lips." Then, quoting the words of the spouse —
"Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth, for thy
PRAYER 185
love is better than wine "•— he sweetly paraphrased it
thus, " Let the lip of my petitioning meet the lip of thy
benediction ; let the lip of my praise met the lip of thy ac
ceptance; so shall the kiss be consummated and my joy
be complete." Aye, and when we are favored to go
through these stages of fellowship; to go from the foot
to the bosom, from the bosom to the lip; to go from the
mere learner and to be a friend and companion ; and then
to go higher still — to be lifted up and to feel our fellow
ship with Christ, by standing as high as he does, and
being on his lip; it is there the child of God, insensibly
almost, receives strength, and, like Elijah smitten by the
angel, he rises up and finds his meat baked upon the
coals, and eats thereof, and lives upon it for forty days
to come. Precious mode of feeding this!
Revival Through Prayer.— All the mighty works of God
have been attended with great prayer, as well as with
great faith. Have ye ever heard of the commencement
of the great American revival? A man, unknown and
obscure, laid it up in his heart to pray that God would
bless his country. After praying and wrestling and
making the soul-stirring inquiry, " Lord, what wilt thou
have me to do ? Lord, what wilt thou have me to do ? "
he hired a room, and put up an announcement that there
would be a prayer-meeting held there at such-and-such
an hour of the day. He went at the proper hour, and
there was not a single person there; he began to pray,
and prayed for half an hour alone. One came in at
the end of the half hour, and then two more, and I think
he closed with six; the next week came round, and there
might have been fifty dropped in at different times.
At last the prayer-meeting grew to a hundred; then
others began to start prayer-meetings; at last there was
scarcely a street in New York that was without a prayer-
meeting. Merchants found time to run in, in the middle
i86 SPURGEON'S ILLUSTRATIVE ANECDOTES
of the day, to pray. The prayer-meetings became daily
ones, lasting for about an hour; petitions and requests
were sent up: these were simply asked and offered be
fore God, and the answers came; and many were the
happy hearts that stood up and testified that the prayer
offered last week had been already fulfilled. Then it
was when they were all earnest in prayer, suddenly the
Spirit of God fell upon the people, and it was rumored
that in a certain village a preacher had been preaching
in thorough earnest, and there had been hundreds con
verted in a week. The matter spread into and through
the Northern States. These revivals of religion became
universal, and it has been sometimes said, that a quarter
of a million of people were converted to God through the
short space of two or three months.
Praying for the Lost.— In one of Krummacher's beautiful
little parables there is a story like this : " Abraham sat
one day in the grove at Mamre, leaning his head on his
hand, and sorrowing. Then his son Isaac came to him,
and said, l My father, why mournest thou 7 what aileth
theel' Abraham answered and said, 'My soul mourneth
for the people of Canaan, that they know not the Lord,
but walk in their own ways, in darkness and foolishness/
4 Oh, my father/ answered the son, 'is it only this?'
Let not thy heart be sorrowful; for are not these their
own ways ? ' Then the patriarch rose up from his seat,
and said, l Come now, follow me/ And he led the youth
to a hut, and said to him, ' Behold.' There was a child
which was imbecile, and the mother sat weeping by it.
Abraham asked her, 'Why weepest thou?' Then the
mother said, ' Alas, this my son eateth and drinketh, and
we minister unto him; but he knows not the face of his
father, nor of his mother. Thus his life is lost, and this
source of joy is sealed to him/ " Is not that a sweet
little parable, to teach us how we ought to pray for
PRAYER 187
the many sheep that are not yet of the fold, but which
must be brought in? We ought to pray for them, be
cause they do not know their Father. Christ has bought
them, and they do not know Christ ; the Father has loved
them from before the foundation of the world, and yet
they know not the face of their Father. When thou
sayest " Our Father," think of the many of thy brothers
and sisters that are in the back streets of London, that
are in the dens and caves of Satan. Think of thy poor
brother that is intoxicated with the spirit of the devil;
think of him, led astray to infamy, and lust, and per
haps to murder, and in thy prayer pray thou for them
who know not the Lord.
A Poor Woman's Throne. — I had an engraving sent to
me the other day which pleased me beyond measure. It
was an engraving simply but exquisitely executed. It
represented a poor girl in an upper room, with a lean-to
roof. There was a post driven in the ground, on which
was a piece of wood, standing on which were a candle
and a Bible. She was on her knees at a chair, praying,
wrestling with God. Every thing in the room had on it
the stamp of poverty. There was the mean coverlet to
the old stump bedstead; there were the walls that had
never been papered, and perhaps scarcely whitewashed.
It was an upper story to which she had climbed with
aching knees, and where, perhaps, she had worked away
till her fingers were worn to the bone, to earn her bread
at needle-work. There it was that she was wrestling
with God. Some would turn away and laugh at it; but
it appeals to the best feelings of man, and moves the
heart far more than does the fine engraving of the
monarch on his knees in the grand assembly.
A Spiritual Birth-place.— I knew a gray-headed old man,
who was in the habit of doing this. He once took a
boy to a certain tree, and said, "Now, John, you kneel
i88 SPURGEON'S ILLUSTRATIVE ANECDOTES
down at that tree, and I will kneel down with you." He
knelt down and prayed, and asked God to convert him
and save his soul. " Now," said he, " perhaps you will
come to this tree again; and if you are not converted,
you will remember that I asked under this tree that God
would save your soul." That young man went away,
and forgot the old man's prayer; but it chanced as God
would have it that he walked down that field again, and
saw a tree. It seemed as if the old man's name was cut
in the bark. He recollected what he prayed for, and
that the prayer was not fulfilled; but he dare not pass
the tree without kneeling down to pray himself; and
there was his spiritual birthplace. The simplest obser
vation of the Christian shall be made a blessing, if God
help him. "His leaf also shall not wither"— the
simplest word he speaks shall be treasured up ; " and
whatsoever he doeth shall prosper."
The Pledge of Security.— I have heard an anecdote of two
gentlemen travelling together, somewhere in Switzerland.
Presently they came into the midst of the forests; and
you know the gloomy tales the people tell about the inns
there, how dangerous it is to lodge in them. One of them,
an infidel, said to the other, who was a Christian, " I
don't like stopping here at all; it is very dangerous in
deed." "Well," said the other, "let us try." So they
went into a house ; but it looked so suspicious that neither
of them liked it; and they thought they would prefer
being at home in England. Presently the landlord said,
" Gentlemen, I always read and pray with my family
before going to bed; will you allow me to do so to
night?" " Yes," they said, " with the greatest pleasure."
When they went up-stairs, the infidel said, " I am not at
all afraid now." "Why?" said the Christian. "Be
cause our host has prayed." " Oh ! " said the other,
"then it seems, after all, you think something of re-
PRAYER 189
ligion; because a man prays, you can go to sleep in his
house." And it was marvelous how both of them did
sleep. Sweet dreams they had, for they felt that where
the house had been roofed by prayer, and walled with
devotion, there could not be found a man living that
would commit an injury to them.
Secret Prayer.— Mrs. Berry used to say, " I would not be
hired out of my closet for a thousand worlds." Mr. Jay
said, " If the twelve apostles were living near you, and
you had access to them, if this intercourse drew you from
the closet, they would prove a real injury to your souls."
Prayer is the ship which bringeth home the richest
freight. It is the soil which yields the most abundant
harvest. Brother, when you rise in the morning your
business so presses, that with a hurried word or two,
down you go into the world, and at night, jaded and
tired, you give God the fag end of the day. The conse
quence is, that you have no communion with him.
Won Through Prayer.— In one of the States of America
there was an infidel who was a great despiser of God,
a hater of the Sabbath and all religious institutions.
What to do with him the ministers did not know. They
met together and prayed for him. But among the rest,
one Elder B resolved to spend a long time in prayer
for the man; after that he got on horseback, and rode
down to the man's forge, for he was a blacksmith. He
left his horse outside, and said, " Neighbor, I am under
very great concern about your souFs salvation; I tell
you I pray day and night for your son's salvation." He
left him, and rode home on his horse. The man went
inside to his house, after a minute or two, and said to
one of his infidel friends, "Here's a new argument;
here's Elder B— - been down here, he did not dispute,
and never said a word to me except this, ' I say, I am
under great concern about your soul ; I can not bear you
igo SPURGEON'S ILLUSTRATIVE ANECDOTES
should be lost/ 0! that fellow," he said, "I can not
answer him ; " and the tears began to roll down his
cheeks. He went to his wife, and said, "I can't make
this out ; I never cared about my soul, but here's an elder,
that has no connection with me, but I have always
laughed at him, and he has come five miles this morning
on horseback just to tell me he is under concern about
my salvation." After a little while he thought it was
time he should be under concern about his salvation too.
He went in, shut the door, began to pray, and the next
day he was at the deacon's house, telling him that he too
was under concern about his salvation, and asking him to
tell him what he must do to be saved.
Culture Through Prayer.— God's grace can save you, and
then enlighten you. A brother minister once told me a
story of a man who was known in a certain village as a
simpleton, and was always considered to be soft in the
head ; no one thought he could ever understand any thing.
But one day he came to hear the gospel preached. He
had been a drunken fellow, having wit enough to be
wicked, which is a very common kind of wit. The Lord
was pleased to bless the Word to his soul, so that he
became a changed character; and what was the marvel
of all was, his religion gave him a something which began
to develop his latent faculties. He found he had some
thing to live for, and he began to try what he could do.
In the first place he wanted to read his Bible, that he
might read his Savior's name; and after much ham
mering and spelling away, at last he was able to read a
chapter. Then he was asked to pray at a prayer-meet
ing; here was an exercise of his vocal powers. Five or
six words made up his prayer, and down he sat abashed.
But by continually praying in his own family at home,
he came to pray like the rest of the brethren, and he
went on till he became a preacher, and singular enough,
PRAYER 191
he had a fluency — a depth of understanding, and a
power of thought, such as are seldom found among
ministers who only occasionally occupy pulpits. Strange
it was, that grace should even tend to develop his natural
powers, giving him an object, setting him devoutly and
firmly upon it, and so bringing out all his resources that
they were fully shown. Ah, ignorant ones, ye need
not despair. He saved them; not for their sakes — there
was nothing in them why they should be saved. He
saved them, not for their wisdom's sake; but, ignorant
tho they were, understanding not the meaning of his
miracles, " he saved them for his name's sake."
Weak Through Lack of Prayer.— I know Christian people
who used to spend an hour a day in prayer. The hour
has dwindled into five minutes. They used to be con
stant at week-night services. They very seldom glad
den us with their presence now; and they are not as
happy as they once were. I can read this riddle. If a
man were to reduce his meals to eating once a week,
we could not warrant his health. I would not guarantee
that, if a man never ate except on Sundays, he would
grow strong. So I do not think that people who neglect
the means of grace, and give up their consecration, can
expect to be lively, happy, or vigorous. When the razor
gets to work, and the hair of conscience, resolute de
votion to God begins to fall on the floor, lock after lock,
the strength is departing: and only as that hair begins
to grow again, and spiritual consecration returns, can
these people expect to be useful, influential, and strong
in the Lord.
Led by the Spirit in Prayer.— I was speaking to a brother
yesterday about a prayer which my Lord had remark
ably answered in my own case, and I could not help
saying to him, "But I cannot always pray in that
fashion. Not only can I not so pray, but I would not
i92 SPURGEON'S ILLUSTRATIVE ANECDOTES
dare to do so, even if I could/* Moved by the Spirit
of God, we sometimes pray with a power of faith which
can never fail at the mercy-seat; but without such an
impulse we must not push our own wills to the front.
There are many occasions upon which, if one had all the
faith which could move mountains, he would most wisely
show it by saying nothing beyond, "Nevertheless, not as
I will, but as thou wilt." Had our Lord chosen to do
so, he had still in reserve a prayer-power which would
have effectually saved him from his enemies. He did not
think it right so to use it; but he could have done so had
he pleased.
Scoffers at Prayer.-— Those philosophers that sneer at
prayer, what do they know about it? They are strangers
to prayer, and therefore unable to judge of its power.
Suppose a dozen of them should swear that they have
prayed, and that God has not heard their prayers, we
should believe it; and we should also come to the con
clusion that prayers from men of their order ought not
to be heard. Surely he that cometh to God must believe
that he is; and these gentlemen will not even accept that
point as certain. But when we pray, and the Lord hears
us, can any form of argument disprove a fact? A fact
will stand against all reasoning : it is an unyielding rock,
against which the waves of skepticism hurl themselves
in vain.
Telling Everything to Jesus.— I remember when once my
young heart ached in boyhood, when I first loved the
Savior. I was far away from father and mother, and
all I loved, and I thought my soul would burst; for I
was an usher in a school, in a place where I could meet
with no sympathy or help. Well, I went to my cham
ber, and told my little griefs into the ears of Jesus. They
were great griefs to me then, tho they are nothing
now. When I just whispered them on my knees into the
PRAYER 193
ear of him who had loved me with an everlasting love,
oh! it was so sweet, none can tell. If I had told them
to somebody else, they would have told them again; but
he, my blessed confidant, he knows my secrets, and he
never tells them. Oh! what can you do that have got
no Jesus to tell your troubles to?
Praying for Special Things.— When we pray, we should
make a point of praying for something distinctly.
There is a general kind of praying, which fails
from want of precision. It is as if a regiment of sol
diers should all fire off their guns anyhow ; possibly some
body would be killed, but the majority of the enemy
would be missed. I believe that at the battle of Water
loo, there were no arms of precision, they had only the
old Brown Bass, and tho the battle was won, it has
been said it took as much lead to kill a man as the
weight of the man's body. This is a figure of the com
parative failure of indistinct, generalizing prayer. If
you pray anyhow, if it be with sincerity, a measure of
blessing results from it; but it will take a great deal
of such praying to accomplish much. But if you plead
for certain mercies definitely and distinctly, with firm
unstaggering faith, you shall richly succeed.
Definite Aim ir» Prayer.— If a man were using his rifle
at Wimbledon in a contest for a prize, if he were told,
" It is not that target on the right, but this upon the left
which must be aimed at," if he would continue to shoot
towards the right, even tho he should make a center,
yet he would not have scored; inasmuch as that was not
the target appointed in the competition, his best shots
would count for nothing. When a man does not pray in
the Lord's appointed way, nor through Jesus Christ, nor
in dependence upon the Holy Spirit, he does not pray
at all. However fine his prayer, it is only a splendid sin.
If yon employ a servant to do a work, and he obstinately
194 SPURGEON'S ILLUSTRATIVE ANECDOTES
persists in doing another thing, he will not earn his
wages. However industriously he works at what you
have never set him to do, he will receive nothing at your
hands. So if you pray to God in a way which God has
never ordained, if you refuse to use the name which he
has appointed, if you neglect the cultivation of that
holy and humble spirit which the Lord will alone accept,
you may pray till your tongue cleaves to the roof of
your mouth; but in God's judgment you have not prayed
at all, and you will not receive anything of the Lord.
Prayer About Common Mercies. — Tho your prayer
should only be about worldly things, and be nothing
more than a merely natural prayer, yet pray it ; for " He
heareth the young ravens when they cry," and I am sure
they do not pray spiritual prayers. All that ravens can
ask for will be worms and flies, and yet he hears them,
and feeds them; and you, a man, tho you may but
pray at this time for a very commonplace mercy, one of
the slighter blessings, yet you may pray with confidence
if you have any faith in the gracious Lord.
Praying for Our Friends. — Does it astonish you that a man
so rich in grace as Paul should be asking prayers of these
unknown saints'? It need not astonish you; for it is
the rule with the truly great to think most highly of
others. In proportion as a man grows in grace he feels
his dependence upon God, and, in a certain sense, his
dependence upon God's people. He decreases in his own
esteem, and his brethren increase in his estimation. A
flourishing tradesman, a man who has a large business, is
the man who needs others, he prospers by setting others
to labor on his behalf; the larger his trade, the more he
is dependent upon those around him. The apostle was,
so to speak, a great master-trader for the Lord Jesus; he
did a great business for his Lord, and he felt that he
could not carry it on unless he had the cooperation of
PRAYER 195
many helpers. He did not so much want what employers
harshly call "hands" to work for him, but he did need
hearts to plead for him, and he therefore sent all the
way to Rome to seek such assistance. He wrote to those
whom he had never seen, and begged their prayers, as if
he pleaded for his life.
Frequent Prayer.— I had a dear friend whose company I
esteemed, but on a sudden he did not come to see me.
He stayed away ; and as I knew he had not ceased to love
me, I wondered why. At last I found that the good
brother had taken it into his head that he might outrun
his welcome: he had read those words of Solomon,
" Withdraw thy foot from thy neighbor's house ; lest he
be weary of thee, and so hate thee." I admired my
friend's prudence, but I labored hard to make him see
that Solomon knew nothing of me, and that I was more
wearied when he stopped away than when he came. I
hope he made me an exception to a very sensible rule.
But never get that thought into your head concerning
your God. Will you weary my God also? You may
weary him by restraining prayer, but never by abound
ing in supplication. Abide with your God, and cry to
him day and night, and let this be the music of your
whole life, " Whereunto I may continually resort."
Heaven's Gate Always Open to the Praying Christian. —
The Persian kings forbade any one to come near them;
and if any ventred into the king's court, and the mon
arch did not stretch out the silver scepter, the guards
cut them down at once. Yet there were certain favored
courtiers who, by special privilege, had the right to ap
proach the king at all times, guard or no guard. These
were the noblest in the king's dominions. Such honor
have all the saints. No cherub with naming sword guards
the way of aproach to God against any child of the great
Father.
196 SPURGEON'S ILLUSTRATIVE ANECDOTES
A Futile Prayer.— It has been well observed by an old
divine, that the man who pleads his own merit does not
pray, but demands his due. If I ask a man to pay me
a debt, I am not a suppliant, but a plaintiff claiming
my rights. The prayer of a man who thinks he is meri
torious is like serving the Lord with a writ: it is not
offering a request, it is issuing a demand. Merit in ef
fect says, " Pay me that thou owest." Little will such
a man get of God.
Paying and Praying.— I was reading the story of a good
old deacon in Maine, in America, who came in to a meet
ing after there had been a missionaiy collection. The
minister there and then asked " our good brother Sewell "
to pray. Sewell did not pray, but thrust his hand in
his pocket and stood fumbling about. " Bring the box,"
he said; and when the box came, and he had put his
money into it, the minister said, " Brother Sewell, I did
not ask you to give anything, I only wished you to pray."
" Oh," said he, " I could not pray till I had first given
something." He felt obliged first to do something for
the great mission work, and having done that he could
pray for it. Oh, that all Christ's people felt the justice
of that course of conduct !
A Prayerless Man. — You may be a very rich man, and
have large estates, but I would sooner occupy the place
of the poorest believing pauper in the workhouse than
take your position without a God and without a throne
of grace. How do people live that have no God to go
to ? If a man were to say to me, ' ' I never get a morsel
of bread to eat at all," I should wonder how he lived.
But when a man says, " I never pray, and God never
hears me," I am in equal wonder.
God Listening to Prayer.- A good brother of my ac
quaintance, a minister of the gospel, going to preach
from the text that God will hear prayer, called upon one
PRAYER 197
of his poor people, who said when the visit was over
that she had greatly enjoyed his call. He thought to
himself, " I have scarcely said a word, and yet she says
that I have done her good." Turning to her, he inquired,
" Sister, how can I have done you good, for I have
hardly spoken with you 1 " " Ah, sir," she replied, " you
have listened so kindly: you have heard all I had to say,
and there are very few who will do that." Just so.
People in deep trouble like somebody to hear them all
through: even little children are comforted by telling
mother all about it. We are in such a hurry with poor
troubled spirits that we hasten them on to the end of the
sentence, and try to make them skip the dreary details.
But to them this seems unkind, for their story is sacred;
and therefore, they go slowly on with it, till we are quite
tired. I have often hurried on a poor despondent crea
ture till I have seen the uselessness of it : it is always best
to let them spin on. It does them good. To tell out the
heart to a patient listener is a great relief to a burdened
spirit, and the heart must do it in its own way. Here is
a sweet assurance, " My God will hear me." I may be
very bad, and what I say may be very broken, and I may
groan a good deal, and I may say the same thing over
and over again, and my whole ditty may be very stupid ;
but, " My God will hear me." He is in no hurry : he is
the God of patience. He will listen to my dreary
talk, and endure each gloomy particular. I need not
hold him as the Ancient Mariner held the wedding guest
who was unwilling to hear his weary rhyme of the sea:
my God will willingly listen to me right through, from
beginning to end, groans and all. "My God will hear
me."
Persistent Prayer.— " Oh !" say you, "I have been pray
ing." Yes, but a tree does not always drop its fruit at
the first shake you give it. Shake it again, man ; give it
198 SPURGEON'S ILLUSTRATIVE ANECDOTES
another shake! And sometimes when the tree is loaded,
and is pretty firm in the earth, you have to shake it to
and fro, and at last you plant your feet, and get hold of
it, and shake it with might and main, till you strain
every muscle and sinew to get the fruit down. And that
is the way to pray. Shake the tree of life until the mercy
drops into your lap. Christ loves for men to beg hard.
You cannot be too importunate. That which might be
disagreeable to your fellow-creatures when you beg of
them, will be agreeable to Christ. Oh! get ye to your
chambers; get ye to your chambers, ye that -have not
found Christ! To your bed-sides, to your little closets,
and " seek the Lord while he may be found ; call ye upon
him while he is near ! " May the Spirit of God constrain
you to pray. May he constrain you to continue in
prayer. Jesus must hear you. The gate of heaven is
open to the sturdy knocker that affirms he will not take
a denial.
Praying far Individuals.— I remember George Whitfield
says when he began to pray, his first prayer was that God
would convert those with whom he used to play at cards
and waste his Sundays. " And blessed be God," he says,
" I got every one of them."
PREACHER
The Power of a Definite Purpose.— No man becomes emi
nent in any pursuit unless he gives himself up to it with
all the powers and passions of his nature — body and
soul. Michael Angelo had never been so great a painter
if his love of art had not become so enthusiastic that he
frequently did not take off his garments to sleep by the
week together; nor had Handel ever been such a great
musician if his ardor for sounds celestial had not led him
to use the keys of his harpsichord till, by constant finger-
PREACHER 199
ing, they became the shape of spoons. A man must have
one pursuit, and consecrate all his powers to one pur
pose, if he would excel or rise to eminence among his
fellows.
Meditation. — Meditation is to the soul what oil was to the
body of the wrestlers. When those old athletes went out
to wrestle, they always took care before they went to
oil themselves well — to make their joints supple and fit
for labor. Now, meditation makes the soul supple —
makes it so that it can use things when they come into
the mind. Who are the men that can go into a contro
versy and get the mastery? Why, the men who meditate
when they are alone. Who are the men that can preach?
Not those who gad about and never commune with their
own hearts alone; but those who think earnestly, as well
when no one is near them as when there is a crowd around
them. Who are the authors who write your books, and
keep up the constant supply of literature? They are
meditative men. They keep their bones supple and their
limbs fit for exercise by continually bathing themselves
in the oil of meditation. How important, therefore, is
meditation as a mental exercise, to have our minds in
constant readiness for any service.
Saved by a Stray Sermon.— Many a sailor boy has been
wild, reckless, Godless, Christless, and at last has got into
a foreign hospital. Ah, if his mother knew that he was
down with the yellow fever, how sad her mind would
be, for she would conclude that her dear son will die
away at Havana, or somewhere, and never come home
again. But it is just in that hospital that God means
to meet with him. A sailor writes to me something like
that. He says, " My mother asked me to read a chapter
every day, but I never did. I got into the hospital at
Havana, and, when I lay there, there was a man near to
me who was dying, and he died one night; but before he
200 SPURGEON'S ILLUSTRATIVE ANECDOTES
died he said to me, ' Mate, could you come here? I want
to speak to you. I have got something that is very
precious to me here. I was a wild fellow, but reading
this packet of sermons has brought me to the Savior,
and I am dying with a good hope through grace. Now,
when I am dead and gone, will you take these sermons
and read them, and may God bless them to you. And
will you write a letter to the man that preached and
printed those sermons, to tell him that God blessed them
to my conversion and that I hope he will bless them to
yourself f ' " It was a packet of my sermons and God did
bless them to that young man who, I have no doubt what
ever, went to that hospital because there a man who had
been brought to Christ would hand to him the words
which God had blessed to himself and would bless to his
friend. You do not know, dear mother, you do not know.
The worst thing that can happen to a young man in this
world is sometimes ^he best thing that can happen to
him.
The True Preacher.— In the old romance, they tell us that
at a gate of a certain noble hall there hung a horn, and
none could blow that horn but the true heir to the castle
and its wide domains. Many tried it. They could make
sweet music on other instruments; they could wake the
echoes by other bugles; but that horn was mute, let them
blow as they might. At last, the true heir came, and
when he set his lips to the horn, shrill was the sound
and indisputable his claim. He who can preach Christ
is the true minister. Let him preach anything else in
the world, he has not proved his calling; but if he shall
preach Jesus and the resurrection, he is in the apostolical
succession. If Christ crucified be the great delight of his
soul, the very marrow of his teaching, the fatness of his
ministry, he has proved his calling as an ambassador of
Christ.
PREACHER 201
Magnifying the Ministry.— We find the most eminent of
God's servants frequently magnifying their office as
preachers of the gospel. Whitfield was wont to call his
pulpit his throne; and when he stood upon some rising
knoll to preach to the thousands gathered in the open
air, he was more happy than if he had assumed the im
perial purple, for he ruled the hearts of men more glori
ously than doth a king. When Dr. Carey was laboring
in India, and his son Felix had accepted the office of
ambassador to the king of Burmah, Carey said, " Felix
has drivelled into an ambassador "— as tho he looked
upon the highest earthly office as an utter degradation
if for it the minister of the gospel forsook his lofty vo
cation. Paul blesses God that this great grace was given
to him, that he might preach among the Gentiles the un
searchable riches of Christ ; he looked upon it not as toil,
but as a grace.
Christ in the Sermon, — A young man had been preaching
in the presence of a venerable divine, and after he had
done he went to the old minister, and said, " What do
you think of my sermon?" "A very poor sermon, in
deed," said he. " A poor sermon ? " said the young man,
" it took me a long time to study it." " Ay, no doubt of
it." "Why, did you not think my explanation of the
text a very good one? " " Oh, yes," said the old preacher,
" very good, indeed." " Well, then, why do you say it is
a poor sermon? Didn't you think the metaphors were
appropriate, and the arguments conclusive ? " " Yes,
they were very good as far as that goes, but still it was
a very poor sermon." " Will you tell me why you think
it a poor sermon ? " " Because," said he, " there was no
Christ in it." " Well," said the young man, " Christ was
not in the text ; we are not to be preaching Christ always,
we must preach what is in the text." So the old man
said, " don't you know, young man, that from every town,
202 SPURGEON'S ILLUSTRATIVE ANECDOTES
and every village, and every little hamlet in England,
wherever it may be, there is a road to London 1 " " Yes,"
said the young man. " Ah ! " said the old divine, " and
so from every text of Scripture, there is a road to the
metropolis of the Scriptures, that is, Christ. And, my
dear brother, your business is, when you get to a text,
to say, 'Now what is the road to Christ?* and then
preach a sermon, running along the road towards the
great metropolis — Christ. And," said he, " I have never
yet found a text that had not got a road to Christ in it,
and if ever I do find one that has not got a road to Christ
in it, I will make one; I will go over hedge and ditch but
I would get at my Master, for the sermon cannot do any
good unless there is a savor of Christ in it."
Lying on the Promises.—
None but Jesus! None but Jesus
Can do helpless sinners good! "
It is simple reliance on him which saves. The negro
said, " Massa, I fall flat on de promise ; " so if you fall
flat on the promise of Jesus, you shall not find him fail
you; he will bind up your heart, and make an end to the
days of your mourning.
Sermons Born of Feeling. — It is a long time since I have
made a good speech at a public meeting; but I do re
member doing it once. I stepped out, as one of the
speakers was delivering a very, very pretty oration, and
I went into a neighboring house to speak with a woman
who wished to join the church. It was not in London.
When I stepped into the house, there was the husband
beastly drunk; he had got his wife up in a corner, and
was with all his might trying to bruise her face, and tear
her arms with his nails, till the blood flowed from her
arms and face. Two or three rushed in, and dragged him
away. She said she had endeavored with all her meek-
PREACHER 203
ness to persuade him to allow her to go to the house of
God that night ; and the only reason why he ill-treated her
was, because he said she would always be going to that
place of worship. And when I had seen this sight, and
looked on the poor woman, with tears in her eyes, I went
into the place, and spoke like a man who had got his face
and heart, and whole body, full of fire. I could not help
it : I was all on flame against the sin of drunkenness, and
sought with all my might to urge the members of the
church to do all they could to scatter the light of the
Gospel into a neighborhod which was so dark and black
and filthy and abandoned. And I think it would do all of
us good, when we preach, if we were sometimes to be
dragged through some of the worst parts of London, to
let us see the wickedness of it.
Keep the Light Burning.— Truly, the minister of Christ
will feel like the old keeper of Eddystone lighthouse ; life
was failing fast, but summoning all his strength, he crept
round once more to trim the lights before he died. 0
may the Holy Spirit enable us to keep the beacon-fire
blazing, to warn you of the rocks, shoals, and quick
sands, which surround you. and may we ever guide you
to Jesus.
A Preacher Converted.— You remember Rowland's HilPs
Story in " The Village Dialogues," about Mr. Merriman.
Mr. Merriman was a sad scapegrace of a preacher; he
was to be seen at every fair and revel, and used seldom
to be found in his pulpit when he should have been; but
when he was converted, he began to preach with tears
running down his face — and how the church began to
be crowded! The squire would not go and hear any of
that stuff, and locked up his pew; and Mr. Merriman had
a little ladder made outside the door, as he did not wish to
break the door open; and the people used to sit on the
steps, up one side and down the other, so that it made
204 SPURGEON'S ILLUSTRATIVE ANECDOTES
twice as much room for the people who chose to come as
there was before.
A Child's Religion.— A dear little girl, some five or six
years old, a true lover of Jesus, requested of her mother
that she might join the church. The mother told her
she was too young. The poor little thing was grieved
exceedingly; and after awhile the mother, who saw that
piety was in her heart, spoke to the minister on the
subject. The minister talked to the child, and said to the
mother, " I am thoroughly convinced of her piety, but I
cannot take her into the church, she is too young." When
the child heard that, a strange gloom passed over her
face; and the next morning when her mother went to her
little bed she lay with a pearly tear or two on each eye,
dead for very grief; her heart was broken, because she
could not follow her Savior, and do as he had bidden her.
I would not have murdered that child for a world ! Take
care how you treat young piety. Be tender of it. Be
lieve that children can be saved as much as yourselves.
When you see the young heart brought to the Savior,
don't stand by and speak harshly, mistrusting eveiything.
It is better sometimes to be deceived than to be the means
of ruining one. God send to his people a more firm
belief that little buds of grace are worthy of all care.
Sad Results of Careless Conduct. — There was a young
minister once preaching very earnestly in a certain chapel,
and he had to walk some four or five miles to his home
along a country road after service. A young man, who
had been deeply impressed under the sermon, requested
the privilege of walking with the minister, with an earnest
hope that he might get an opportunity of telling out his
feelings to him, and obtaining some word of guidance or
comfort. Instead of that, the young minister all the way
along told the most singular tales to those who were with
him, causing loud roars of laughter, and even relating
PREACHER 205
tales which bordered upon the indecorous. He stopped
at a certain house, and this young man with him, and the
whole evening was spent in frivolity and foolish talking.
Some years after, when the minister had grown old, he
was sent for to the bedside of a dying man. He hastened
thither with a heart desirous to do good. He was re
quested to sit down at the bedside; and the dying man,
looking at him, and regarding him most closely, said to
him, " Do you remember preaching in such and such a
village on such an occasion ? " "I do," said the min
ister. " I was one of your hearers," said the man, " and
I was deeply impressed by the sermon." " Thank God
for that," said the minister. " Stop ! " said the man,
" don't thank God till you have heard the whole story ;
you will have reason to alter your tone before I have
done." The minister changed countenance, but he little
guessed what would be the full extent of that mail's
testimony. Said he, " Sir, do you remember, after you
had finished that earnest sermon, I with some others
walked home with you? I was sincerely desirous of
being led in the right path that night; but I heard you
speak in such a strain of levity, and with so much coarse
ness, too, that I went outside the house, while you were
sitting down to your evening meal; I stamped my foot
upon the ground ; I said that you were a liar, that Chris
tianity was a falsehood; that if you could pretend to be
so in earnest about it in the pulpit, and then come down
and talk like that, the whole thing must be a sham; and
I have been an infidel," said he, "a confirmed infidel,
from that day to this. But I am not an infidel at this
moment; I know better; I am dying, and I am about to
be damned ; and at the bar of God I will lay my damna
tion to your charge; my blood is on your head;"— and
with a dreadful shriek, and one demoniacal glance at the
trembling minister, he shut his eyes and died.
206 SPURGEON'S ILLUSTRATIVE ANECDOTES
A Sermon That Went to the Mark.— - 1 have heard of a
woman, who, when she was asked what she remembered
of the minister's sermon, said, "I don't recollect any
thing of it. It was about short weights and bad meas
ures, and I didn't recollect anything but to go home and
burn the bushel."
Hiding Behind Christ. — I recollect a story told by William
Dawson, whom our Wesleyan friends used to call Billy
Dawson, one of the best preachers that ever entered a
pulpit. He once gave out as his text, " Through this
man is preached unto you the forgiveness of sins." When
he had given out his text he dropped down to the bottom
of the pulpit, so that nothing could be seen of him, only
there was a voice heard saying, "Not the man in the
pulpit, he is out of sight, but the Man in the Book.
The Man described in the Book is the Man through whom
is preached unto you the forgiveness of sins."
Too Much Red Tape.— Mr. Rowland Hill was said to have
ridden on the back of all order and decorum. "No,"
he said, " I cannot ride on the back of two horses, but
I have two horses to my carriage, and I have called one
of them ' Order/ and the other ' Decorum/ to make the
report come as nearly right as possible." Order and
Decorum were never put to a better use than when they
drew Mr. Rowland Hill from town to town preaching
the gospel; and I, for one, am glad that he never took
those horses into the pulpit. He was just as disorderly
and indecorous as a Christian man ought to be — that
is to say, he was perfectly natural, and spoke the truth
from his heart, and men that heard it felt the power of
it; and so he became a blessing to this part of London,
and indeed, to the whole world. Shake yourself up a
little, my brother. If you are too precise may the Lord
set you on fire, and consume your bonds of red tape!
If you have become so improperly proper that you cau^
PREACHER 207
not commit a proper impropriety, then pray God to help
you to be less proper, for there are many who will never
be saved by your instrumentality while you study pro
priety.
A Word in Season. — A smith was blowing his bellows one
day, when the saintly McCheyne stepped into the smithy
for shelter from a shower of rain. As the smith was
blowing the coals and they were at a great heat, he
simply said to him, "What does that fire make you
think of f " He never waited for an answer, but went
his way. It made the smith think of the wrath to come,
and it made him flee from it too. We cannot tell what
may be, in the gracious providence of God, the means
of bringing you to decision. He that used an angel's
hand with Lot, can use a well-timed observation with
you. Therefore, I urge all Christian people that they
use every opportunity, and study to season their con
versation with grace. Sow beside all waters, for you
know which may prosper, this or that.
A Dumb Dog.— I have heard of a minister who preached
for several years before he was converted, and when
converted he became a very earnest preacher of the gos
pel; but one day as he rode along the street he was ob
served to stop and cane a dog which was lying in front
of a door. When they said to him, " Mr. McPhayle, why
did you beat the dog? " he said, "He was so exactly like
myself, lying in the sun sleeping — a dumb dog that
didn't bark — that I could not but give him a touch of
the rod; tho I meant it all the while for myself."
Fishing but Never Catching.— If a minister can be content
to go on preaching without converts or baptisms, the
Lord have mercy upon his miserable soul! Can he be
a minister of Christ who does not win souls? A man
might as well be a huntsman and never take any prey,
a fisherman and always come home with empty nets, a
208 SPURGEON'S ILLUSTRATIVE ANECDOTES
husbandman and never reap a harvest! I wonder at
some people's complacency. When God never blesses
them they never fail to bless themselves. " Divine sover
eignty withholds the increase," they say. But it really
is their idleness that tends to poverty. The promise of
God is to the diligent, not the indolent. Let Paul plant,
and let Apollos water, God will give the increase. It
may not come to-day, nor to-morrow, nor the next day,
but come it must. The word cannot return unto God
void.
A Faithful Messenger.— Do you send a servant to the door
of a neighbor with a message ? If the person at the door
should be angry, the servant would say, " It is of no use
being angry with me; you must be angry with my master,
for I have given you the message just as he gave it to
me." And if they should be angry with him, he would
say, " I would much rather that the stranger at the door
should be angiy with me for telling the message than
that my master should be angry with me for keeping it
back, for to my master I stand or fall." I think the
minister of God, if he has preached faithfully, may say,
" Well, I have delivered only what my Master told me ;
if you are angry with me you must remember that you
ought to be angry with my Master, for it was my Mas
ter's message, and it is better for you to be angry with
me than for my Master to be angry with me."
The Preacher God's Messenger to the Conscience. — I am
afraid, there are some ministers who hardly think that
the gospel is intended to come personally home to the
people. They talk, as I read of one the other day, who
said, that when he preached to sinners he did not like
to look the congregation in the face, for fear they should
think he meant to be personal, so he looked up at the
ventilator, because there was no fear then of any indi
vidual catching his eye. Oh ! that fear of man has been
PRIDE 209
the ruin of many ministers. They never dared to preach
right at the people. We have heard of sermons being
preached before this and that honorable company; but
preaching sermons before people is not God's way; we
must preach sermons at the people, directly to them,- to
show that it is not the waving of a sword in the air like
a juggler's sport, but it is the getting the sword right
into the conscience and the heart. This, I take it, is
the true mission of every minister of Christ. It is said
of Whitfcfield, that if you were the farthest away from
him in a throng, where you could but hear the sound of
his voice, you felt persuaded that he meant to speak to
you; and of Rowland Hill it is said, that if you got into
Surrey Chapel you could not hide in a corner there; tho
you should manage to get into a back seat, or were
squeezed tight into the windows, you would still feel per
suaded that Mr. Hill was addressing you, and that he
had singled you out for his expostulations. Surely this
is the perfection of preaching.
PRIDE
Insidious Flattery. — Praise is a thing we all love. I met
with a man the other day who said he was impervious to
flattery; I was walking with him at the time, and turn
ing round rather sharply, I said, " At any rate, sir, you
seem to have a high gift in flattering yourself, for you
are really doing so, in saying you are impervious to
flattery." "You cannot flatter me," he said. I replied,
" I can, if I like to try ; and perhaps may do so before
the day is out." I found I could not flatter him di
rectly, so I began by saying what a fine child that was
of his; and he drank it in as a precious draught; and
when I praised this thing and that thing belonging to
him, I could see that he was very easily flattered; not
directly, but indirectly. We are all pervious to flat-
aio SPURGEON'S ILLUSTRATIVE ANECDOTES
tery; we like the soothing cordial, only it must not be
labeled flattery; for we have a religious abhorrence of
flattery if it be so called ; call it by any other name, and
we drink it in, even as the ox drinketh in water.
Wicked Pride.— I have heard of a lady who was visited
by a minister on her deathbed, and she said to him, " I
want to ask you one question, now I am about to die."
"Well," said the minister, "what is it?" "Oh!" said
she, in a very affected way, "I want to know if there
are two places in heaven, because I could not bear that
Betsy in the kitchen should be in heaven along with
me, she is so unrefined?" The minister turned round
and said, " 0 ! don't trouble yourself about that, madam.
There is no fear of that; for, until you get rid of your
accursed pride, you will never enter heaven at all." We
must all get rid of our pride. We must come down and
stand on an equality in the sight of God, and see in
every man a brother, before we can hope to be found in
glory."
Danger of Self Confidence.— Did you ever hear of a cap
tain of a vessel driven about by rough winds who wanted
anchorage and tried to find it on board his vessel? He
desires to place his anchor somewhere on board the ship
where it will prove a hold-fast. He hangs it at the
prow, but still the ship drives: he exhibits the anchor
upon deck, but that does not hold the vessel; at last he
puts it down into the hold; but with no better success.
Why, man alive, anchors do not hold as long as they
are on board a ship. They must be thrown into the deep,
and then they will get a grip of the sea-bottom, and
hold the vessel against wind and tide. As long as ever
you have confidence in yourselves, you are like a man
who keeps his anchor on board his boat, and you will
never come to a resting-place. Over with your faith into
the great deeps of eternal love and power, and trust in
PRIDE an
the infinitely faithful One. Then shall you be glad be
cause your heart is quiet. Stay yourself upon your God,
because he commands you so to do. Do not dare to
hesitate.
Need of God's Help. — In olden times a warrior was going
forth to battle for his country, and a certain preacher of
the word said to him, " My prayer is made continually
for you that you may be victorious." The warrior, in
his philosophic doubt, replied that he saw no use in the
promised prayers; for if God had determined to give
him victory, he would have it without prayer; and if
fate had decreed that he should be defeated, prayers
could not prevent it. To which the godly man very
properly replied, " Then take off your helmet and your
coat of mail, and hang up your sword and buckler. Go
not forth to battle at all with your men-at-arms; for,
indeed, if the Lord is to conquer your enemies he can
do it without your weapons, and if lie will not prosper
you, it will then be in vain for you to mount your war-
horse."
Danger of Pride.— I remember a story told me by a dear
brother, who is present with us now. A tradesman who
held office in the church asked him for a loan of money.
Tho rather inconvenient he was about to comply, and
would have done so had not some such inducement as
this been offered — " You know you may safely advance
this money to me, for I am incorruptible. I am not
young; I am past temptation." Thereupon my friend
promptly declined, as he did not like the security. The
result justified his shrewdness. At that very time the
borrower knew he was on the verge of bankruptcy, and,
ere long, was actually a bankrupt, and yet he could
pretend to say he was above temptation. Above all,
avoid those men who think themselves immaculate, and
never fear a fall.
212 SPURGEON'S ILLUSTRATIVE ANECDOTES
THE PROMISES
Pleading God's Promises. — Some one has given you a
promise, that if you are in need and go to him, he will
give whatever you want. You go up to his door, you
knock timidly; and when he comes to meet you, you
rush into the street and hide yourself, for you are
ashamed that he should see you. Driven by necessity,
however, you knock again; at last he comes, and you
stand trembling before him. " Well," says he, " what
do you want ? " " You have given me a promise, sir,
that when I am in need you will do so-and-so for me,
and I really do not believe it. I have no confidence in
you, and I do not like to ask." There would be nothing
honorable in that to any man. How far different was
the example of Alexander's courtier. The king said to
him, " I will give to thee whatever thou requesteth ; "
and the man asked such a gift as almost emptied Alex
ander's coffers. " Ay," says the monarch, " it was a
great thing for him to ask, but it is only a little thing
for Alexander to give. I like the man's confidence in
me, using my word to its fullest extent." Now when the
believer goes to his closet and bows there with his feeble
knee, and asks God to bless him, and does not half
believe that he will, he dishonors God. But when a man
goes up to his chamber, saying in his heart, " There is
something that I want, and I am going to get it;" and
he falls on his knees, and cries, " Lord, thou knowest all
things: thou knowest that such a thing is necessary to
me ; there is thy promise ; ' do as thou hast said,' Lord ;
I know thou wilt give it me." And when he rises from
his knees, and goes down and says to his friend, " The
blessing will come; I have asked for it; I have prayed
the prayer of faith, and God will hear me;" why, such
a man honors God. I would remind you again of a
THE PROMISES 213
great proof of all this. Look at Mr. Miiller, at Ashley-
down, near Bristol. Could he have built that house for
orphans if he had a weak hand and a feeble knee? No.
But he had a strong hand ; he meant to serve his God by
feeding and clothing orphans. On the other hand he
had a strong knee. " Lord," he said, " I will do this
enterprise — give me the means to do it." And he went to
God, and did not doubt that he would do it. And, lo!
thousands have rolled into his treasury, and he has never
known lack; and now, seven hundred children live under
hio care, and are fed and clothed to the honor of God.
Let us also seek to have strong hands and mighty knees,
and so shall we honor God.
God Speaking Through the Preacher.— A City Mission
ary, when going round the West end of the town, met a
poor man, of whom he asked this question : " Do you
know Mr. Spurgeon?" He found him reading a ser
mon. "Yes," he said, "I have every reason to know
him; I have been to hear him, and under God's grace I
have become a new man. But," said he, " shall I tell
you how it was? I went to the Music Hall, and took my
seat in the middle of the place, and the man looked at me
as if he knew me, and deliberately told the congregation
that I was a shoemaker, and that I sold shoes on a Sun
day; and I did, sir. But, sir, I should not have minded
that; but he said I took ninepence the Sunday before,
and that there was fourpence profit; and so I did take
ninepence, and fourpence was just the profit, and how
he should know that I'm sure I cannot tell. It struck
me it was 'God had spoken to my soul through him; and
I shut my shop last Sunday, and was afraid to open
it and go there, lest he should split about me again." I
could tell as many as a dozen authentic stories of cases
that have happened in this Hall, where I have deliber
ately pointed at somebody, without the slightest knowl-
214 SPURGEON'S ILLUSTRATIVE ANECDOTES
edge of the person, or ever having in the least degree
any inkling or idea that what I said was right, except
that I was moved thereto by the Spirit; and so striking
has been the description, that the persons have gone
away and said, " Come, see a man that told me all things
that ever I did: he was sent of God to my soul, beyond
a doubt, or else he could not have painted my case so
clearly."
God's Promises.— « The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not
want." Climb up that creaking staircase to the top of
thy house, lie down on thy hard mattress, wrap thyself
round with a blanket, look out for the winter when hard
times are coming, and say, "What shall I do?" But,
then, just hum over to thyself these words, " The Lord
is my shepherd, I shall not want." That will be like
the hush of a lullaby to your poor soul, and you will soon
sink to slumber. Go, thou business man, to thy count
ing-house again, after this little hor.r of recreation in
God's house, again to cast up those wearisome books.
Thou art saying, " How about business ? These prices
may be my rum. What shall I do ? " When thou hast
cast up thine accounts, put this down against all thy
fears, and see what a balance it will leave — " The Lord
is my shepherd, I shall not want." There is another
man. He does not lack anything, but still he feels that
some great loss may injure him considerably. Go and
write this down in thy cash-book. If thou hast made
out thy cash-account truly, put this down : " The Lord
is my shepherd, I shall not want;" put that down for
something better than pounds, shillings and pence, some
thing better than gold and silver. " The Lord is my
shepherd, I shall not want." " Ah ! " says the cold, cal
culating man, "your promise is not worth having, sir."
No; it would not, if it were my promise. But fortu
nately it is not. It is God's promise.
PROPHECY 215
PROPHECY
A Marvelous Prophecy.— I wish to bear a personal testi
mony by narrating an incident in my own life. I have
been preaching in Essex this week, and I took the op
portunity to visit the place where my grandfather
preached so long, and where I spent my earliest days.
Last Wednesday was to me a day in which I walked
like a man in a dream. Everybody seemed bound to
recall some event or other of my childhood. What a
story of divine love and mercy did it bring before my
mind! Among other things, I sat down in a place that
must ever be sacred to me. There stood in my grand
father's manse garden two arbors made of yew trees, cut
into sugar-loaf fashion. Tho the old manse has given
way to a new one, and the old chapel has gone also, yet
the yew trees nourish as aforetime. I sat down in the
right hand arbor and bethought me of what had hap
pened there many years ago. When I was a young
child staying with my grandfather, there came to preach
in the village Mr. Knill, who had been a missionary at
St. Petersburg, and a mighty preacher of the gospel.
He came to preach for the London Missionary Society,
and arrived on the Saturday at the manse. He was a
great soul-winner, and he soon spied out the boy. He
said to me, " Where do you sleep ? for I want to call you
up in the morning." I showed him my little room. At
six o'clock he called me up, and we went into that arbor.
There, in the sweetest way, he told me of the love of
Jesus, and of the blessedness of trusting in him and
loving him in our childhood. With many a story he
preached Christ to me, and told me how good God had
been to him, and then he prayed that I might know the
Lord and serve him. He knelt down in that arbor and
prayed for me with his arms about my neck. He did not
216 SPURGEON'S ILLUSTRATIVE ANECDOTES
seem content unless I kept with him in the interval be
tween the services, and he heard my childish talk with
patient love. On Monday morning he did as on the
Sabbath, and again on Tuesday. Three times he taught
me and prayed with me, and before he had to leave,
my grandfather had come back from the place where he
had gone to preach, and all the family were gathered
to morning prayer. Then, in the presence of them all,
Mr. Knill took me on his knee, and said, " This child
will one day preach the gospel, and he will preach it to
great multitudes. I am persuaded that he will preach
in the chapel of Rowland Hill, where (I think he said)
I am now the minister." He spoke very solemnly, and
called upon all present to witness what he said. Then
he gave me sixpence as a reward if I would learn the
hymn,
" God moves in a mysterious way
His wonders to perform."
I was made to promise that when I preached in Row
land Hill's Chapel that hymn should be sung. Think of
that as a promise from a child! Would it ever be other
than an idle dream1? Years flew by. After I had begun
for some little time to preach in London, Dr. Alexander
Fletcher had to give the annual sermon to children in
Surrey Chapel, but as he was taken ill, I was asked in a
hurry to preach to the children. "Yes," I said, "I
will, if the children will sing, ' God moves in a mys
terious way.' I have made a promise long ago that so
that should be sung." And so it was: I preached in
Rowland Hill's Chapel, and the hymn was sung. My
emotions on that occasion I cannot describe. Still that
was not the chapel which Mr. Knill intended. All un
sought by me, the minister at Wotton-under-Edge, which
was Mr. Hill's summer residence, invited me to preach
PROVIDENCE 217
there. I went on the condition that the congregation
should sing, "God moves in a mysterious way"— which
was also done. After that I went to preach for Mr.
Richard Knill himself, who was then at Chester. What
a meeting we had! Mark this! he was preaching in a
theatre ! His preaching in a theatre took away from me
all fear about preaching in secular buildings, and set
me free for the campaigns in Exeter Hall and the Sur
rey Music Hall. How much this had to do with other
theatre services you know.
"God moves in a mysterious way
His wonders to perform."
After more than forty years of the Lord's loving-kind
ness, I sat again in that arbor!
PROVIDENCE
A Providence.— I shall always regard the fact of my being
here to-day as a remarkable instance of providence. I
should not have occupied this hall probably, and been
blessed of God in preaching to multitudes if it had not
been for what I considered an untoward accident. I
should have been at this time studying in college, instead
of preaching here, but for a singular circumstance which
happened. I had agreed to go to college: the tutor had
come to see me, and I went to see him at the house of a
mutual friend; I was shown by the servant into one
drawing-room in the house, he was shown into another.
He sat and waited for me for two hours; I sat and
waited for him for two hours. He could wait no longer,
and went away thinking I had not treated him well;
I went away and thought that he had not treated me
well. As I went away this text came into my mind,
" Seekest thou great things for thyself? Seek them
not." So I wrote to say that I must positively decline,
ai8 SPURGEON'S ILLUSTRATIVE ANECDOTES
I was happy enough amongst my own country people,
and got on very well in preaching, and I did not care
to go to college. I have now had four years of labor.
But, speaking after the manner of men, those who have
been saved during that time would not have been saved,
by my instrumentality at any rate, if it had not been
for the remarkable providence turning the whole tenor
of my thoughts, and putting things into a new track.
You have often had strange accidents like that. When
you have resolved to do a thing, you could not do it
any how; it was quite impossible. God turned you
another way, and proved that providence is indeed the
master of all human events.
Look at Both Sides.— Mrs. Hannah More, I think it is,
says, she went into a place where they were manufactur
ing a carpet. She said : " There is no beauty there."
The man said : " It is one of the most beautiful carpets
you ever saw." " Why, here is a piece hanging out, and
is all in disorder." " Do you know why, ina'am ? You
look at the wrong side." So it is very often with us.
You and I think Providence is very bad, because we
are looking at the wrong side. We do look at the wrong
side while we are here, but when we get to heaven we
shall see the right side of God's dealings; and when we
do we shall say : " Lord, how wonderful are thy works :
in wisdom thou hast made them all: glorious are thy
works, and that my soul knoweth right well."
Special Providences. — I remember preaching at Halifax,
in a huge timber building which was erected for the
purpose. During the previous day the snow fell heav
ily, and it lay deep upon the ground. Nevertheless, the
people came in their thousands, and thronged the enor
mous edifice; and gratefully do I remember how they
-J-ut away to their homes ia safety. They had no sooner
cleared tue building *« the last man, than it fell in one
PROVIDENCE 219
gigantic ruin. Why had it not fallen when the crowds
were there? In my joy that no one was harmed I
thought that God was there, and I praised his holy name.
Was that a piece of superstition?
Take another instance. I was one day in great per
plexity upon a certain matter of great importance to
the cause of God. I laid it before God in prayer, but
still I did not see my way: I could get no direction or
guidance. Having to preach in North London, a friend
kindly drove me to the spot, and afterwards I asked him
to take me to the house of one of our people whom I
wished to see. I scarcely noticed my way, till at last I
found myself in a street unknown to me. I then said,
" You are surely going wrong." " No," he said, " I am
right enough." He was making for the private house
of the person I had named, but I knew that he would
at that time be at his office in the city, and I had in
tended to go there after him. We were on the wrong
track, and so the horse's head was turned down at a
side-street unknown to me, and as we passed along it, I
saw the only man in all the world who could assist me
out of my difficulty. How he came to be there I could
not tell; how I came to be there I have already told you.
Strangely had the Lord guided me, and the information
guided the affair to a happy issue. God was near me.
Providence as a Detective.— Do you not know that Provi
dence is a wonderful detective? There are hounds upon
the track of every thief, and murderer, and liar — in
fact, upon every sinner of every kind. Each sin leaves
a trail. The dogs of judgment will be sure to scent it
out, and find their prey. There is no disentangling your
selves from the meshes of guilt ; no possibility of evading
the penalty of transgression. Very wonderful have been
the ways in which persons who have committed crimes
have been brought to judgment. A trifle becomes a tell-
220 SPURGEON'S ILLUSTRATIVE ANECDOTES
tale. The method of deceit gives a clue to the manner of
discovery. "Wretched the men who bury their secrets in
their own bosom. Their conscience plays traitor to them.
They have often been forced to betray themselves. We
have read of men talking1 in their sleep to their fellows,
and babbling out in thir dreams the crime they had com
mitted years before. God would have the secret dis
closed. No eye had seen, neither could any other tongue
have told, but the man turned king's evidence against
himself; he has thus brought himself to judgment. It
has often happened, in some form or other, that con
science has thus been witness against men.
PUNISHMENT
The Reckoning.— You desire to take death into your reck
oning that it may not surprise you unawares. He who
should go upon a long journey, and provide for every
difficulty on the road but one, would probably find the
journey a failure. If, with a rolling chariot for the
solid ways, he had forgotten to find the means of cross
ing the last river which would divide him from the coun
try which he sought, he would be disappointed after all
his pains. If you have provided for life, but have not
also prepared for death, what better will you be, my
hearer, than such a foolish traveller? We have heard
of one, who, going into a tavern, ordered according to
his wildest wishes, and feasted sumptuously on the best
the house afforded, hour after hour; but when the host
came with the bill, he told him that he had no money,
and had quite forgotten the reckoning, thinking it quite
enough to attend to the eating and drinking while these
were the order of the day, without perplexing himself
about the unknown future. Alas! my hearer, are you
living in this inn of life, forgetting the reckoning? Do
go from cup to cup, from merriment to merriment,
PUNISHMENT 221
feasting as tho there were no day of account appointed
for you? If so, are you fool or knave, or both? For
a man who would enjoy life, and yet shirk the account
of his responsibilities with which the scene must close,
is either foolish, or knavish, or both. Surely, since we
must die, since " there is no discharge in this war," since
every man must be a conscript to the army of death,
since, whether it be to-morrow or the next day, or in a
few years' time, every one of us must pass through the
iron gate, it behoves us, knowing the fact, to take it
into our account, to be diligent in forestalling its de
mands, and providing for its emergencies.
The Fate of the Self-Righteous.— I have heard of an army,
who, being defeated in battle, endeavored to make good
a retreat. With all their might the soldiers fled to a
certain river, where they expected to find a bridge across
which they could retreat and be in safety. But when
they came to the stream, there was heard a shriek of
terror — " The bridge is broken, the bridge is broken ! "
All in vain was that cry; for the multitude hurrying
on behind, pressed upon those that were before and
forced them into the river, until the stream was glutted
with the bodies of drowned men. Such must be the
fate of the self-righteous.
A Lost Soul. — In the life of Benjamin Keach — and he
also was one of my predecessors — I find the case of a
man who had been a professor of religion, but had de
parted from the profession, and had gone into awful sin.
When he came to die, Keach, with many other friends
went to see him, but they could never stay with him
above five minutes at a time ; for he said, " Get ye gone ;
it is of no use your coming to me; I have sinned away
the Holy Ghost; I am like Esau, I have sold my birth
right, and tho I seek it carefully with tears, I can never
find it again." And then he would repeat dreadful
222 SPURGEON'S ILLUSTRATIVE ANECDOTES
words, like these : " My mouth is filled with gravel-
stones, and I drink wormwood day and night. Tell me
not, tell me not of Christ! I know he is a Savior, but
I hate him, and he hates me. I know I must die ; I know
I must perish ! " And then followed doleful cries, and
hideous noises, such as none could bear. They returned
again in his placid moments, only to stir him once more,
and make him cry out in his despair, " I am lost ! I am
lost! It is of no use for you to take the trouble to tell
me anything about it ! "
The Trifler's Doom.— Here is a man, who, as a young man,
heard the gospel and grew up under the influence of it.
He is an intelligent man, a Bible reader, and somewhat
of a theologian. He attended a Bible class, was an apt
pupil, and could explain much of Scripture, but he took
to lightness and frothiness. He made an amusement of
religion and a sport of serious things. Sermons he fre
quented that he might talk of them and say that he had
heard the preacher. After the sermon, when others were
impressed, he was merry. He had discovered some mis
take in the preacher, in his pronunciation, in the gram
matical construction of a sentence, or in a misquotation
from a poet, and this he mentioned with gusto, passing
by all the good that was spoken. That was only his
way : he did not mean any hurt by it ; at least, he would
have said so had any one seriously reproved him.
He came under the bond of this religious trifling, but
it was a cord of vanity small as a packthread. Years
ago he began to be bound to his sin by this kind of
trifling, and at the present moment I am not sure that
he ever cares to go and hear the gospel or to read the
word of God, for he has grown to despise that which
he sported with. The wanton witling has degenerated
into a malicious scoffer: his cord has become a cart-
rope.
PUNISHMENT 223
Doom of the Unstable. — I remember one that fell into a
gross sin, of whom a brother unwisely said, " if that man
is not a Christian, I am not." His prayers had certainly
been sweet. Many a time they have melted me down
before the throne of grace, and yet the life of God could
not have been in his soul, for he lived and died in
flagrant vice, and was impenitent to the last. Such cases
I can only attribute to a sort of levity, which can be
charmed with a sermon or a play; take a pew at the
chapel or a box at the opera with equal nonchalance;
and eagerly follow the excitement of the hour, " every
thing by turns and nothing long." " Unstable as water,
they shall not excel."
The Mocker's Doom.— Ah! it was not long ago that a
man who had laughed and mocked at- me full many a
time, went down one Sabbath day to Brighton, to spend
his day in the excursion — he came back that night to
die! On Monday morning, when he was dying, who do
you suppose he wanted? He wanted Mr. Spurgeon! the
man he had laughed at always; he wanted him to come
and tell him the way to heaven, and point him to the
Savior. And altho I was glad enough to go, it was
doleful work to talk to a man who had just been Sab
bath-breaking, spending his time in the service of Satan,
and had come home to die. And die he did, without a
Bible in his house, without having one prayer offered
for him except that prayer which I alone did offer at
his bedside. Ah ! it is strange how the sight of a death
bed may be blessed to the stimulating of our zeal. I
stood some year or so ago, by the bedside of a poor boy,
about sixteen years of age, who had been drinking him
self to death, in a drinking bout, about a week before,
and when I talked to him afiout sin and righteousness,
and judgment to come, I knew he trembled, and I thought
that he had laid hold on Jesus. When I came down
224 SPURGEON'S ILLUSTRATIVE ANECDOTES
from those stairs, after praying for him many a time,
and trying to point him to Jesus, and having but a faint
hope of his ultimate salvation, I thought to myself, 0
God ! I would that I might preach every hour, and every
moment of the day, the unsearchable riches of Christ;
for what an awful thing it is to die without a Savior.
REGENERATION
Need of a New Birth. — I was staying one day at an inn
in one of the valleys of Northern Italy, where the floor
was dreadfully dirty. I had it in my mind to advise
the landlady to scrub it, but when I perceived it was
made of mud, I reflected that the more she scrubbed the
worse it would be. The man who knows his own heart
soon perceives that his corrupt nature admits of no im
provement; there must be a new nature implanted, or
the man will be only " washed to deeper stains." " Ye
must be born again." Ours is not a case for mend
ing, but for making new. The meaning of the prayer
in my text is, "Lord, do not chastise me, but turn me.
Do thou do it thyself, and then it will be done. ' Turn
me, and I shall be turned/ but if thou dost not do it I
am past hope." 0 troubled soul, if the Lord shall put
his hand to the work this morning, what a wonderful
change will he work in thee ; but only his own right hand
can do it. Pray, then, this prayer : " Turn me, and I
shall be turned."
" No outward forms can make you clean,
Your leprosy lies deep within."
REPENTANCE
Personal Repentance.— I had a letter a few days ago from
a young man who heard that during this week I was
going to a certain town. Said he, " Sir, when you come
REPENTANCE 225
do preach a sermon that will fit me; for do you know,
sir, I have heard it said that we must all think ourselves
to be the wickedest people in the world, or else we cannot
be saved. I try to think so, but I cannot, because I have
not been the wickedest. I want to think so, but I can
not. I want to be saved, but I do not know how to
repent enough." Now, if I have the pleasure of seeing
him I shall tell him, God does not require a man to
think himself the wickedest in the world, because that
would sometimes be to think a falsehood; there are some
men who are not so wicked as others are. What God
requires is this, that a man should say, " I know more
of myself than I do of other people; I know little about
them, and from what I see of myself, not of my actions,
but of my heart, I do think that there can be few worse
than I am. They may be more guilty openly, but then
I have had more light, more privileges, more opportuni
ties, more warnings, and therefore I am still guiltier."
I do not want you to bring your brother with you and
say, " I am more wicked than he is ; " I want you to
come yourself, and say, " Father, I have sinned ! " you
have nothing to do with your brother William, whether
he has sinned more or less ; your cry should be, " Father,
I have sinned." You have nothing to do with your
cousin Jane, whether or not she has rebelled more than
you. Your business is to cry, "Lord have mercy upon
me a sinner ! "
False Repentance.— I have heard of a woman who af
fected to believe that she was a sinner, and her minister,
convinced that she did not know what she meant, thus
exposed her folly. He said to her, "Well, if you are
a sinner, of course you have broken God's laws; let us
read the ten commandments, and see which you have
broken." So turning to the decalogue he began to read :
"Thou shalt have none other God before me;" "Did
226 SPURGEON'S ILLUSTRATIVE ANECDOTES
you ever break that? " " Oh, no, not that she knew of."
He proceeded, "Thou shalt not make to thyself any
graven image," and so on; "Did you ever break that?"
" Never, sir," said she. Then " Thou shalt not take the
name of the Lord thy God in vain." " Oh, dear no ;
She had been very particular on that point; she did
not know that she had ever offended in that respect in
her life." " Remember the seventh day to keep it holy."
" Oh," said she, " I never do any work on a Sunday ;
everybody knows how particular I am about that."
"Honor thy father and thy mother." "Yes," she re
plied, "she had been quite perfect in this matter; you
might ask her friends if she had not been." " Thou
shalt not kill." " Kill anybody ! She wondered how the
minister could ask her that." Of course, "Thou shalt
not commit adultery," must be passed without a ques
tion. " Thou shalt not bear false witness." Much of a
gossip tho she was, she protested she never did back
bite anybody in all her life. And as to the idea of covet
ing, well, she might sometimes have wished that she
was a little better off, but she never wanted any of
anybody else's goods, she only wanted a little more of
her own. So it turned out as the minister expected,
that she really was not a sinner at all in her own esti
mation. It is marvellous how people who indulge in
general confessions of sin attempt to exculpate them
selves of each and every particular offence. Whatever
the indictment is, they plead "Not Guilty."
RESURRECTION
The Resurrection Glory.— Old Master Spenser, who was
a rare hand at making metaphors, says, " The body here
is like an old rusty piece of iron, but Death shall be the
blacksmith; he shall take it and he shall make it hot
in his fire, until it shall sparkle and send forth burning
RESURRECTION 227
heat and look bright and shining." And so surely is it.
We are thrust into the earth as into the fire, and there
shall we be made to sparkle and to shine and to be full
of radiance; no more the rusty things that we once were,
but fiery spirits, like the cherubim and the seraphim, we
shall wear a power and a glory the like of which we
have not even yet conceived.
God's Cup.— I see before me an old and battered cup,
which many a black lip hath touched, out of which many
a villain's throat has received moisture. It is marred
and covered over with filth. Who could tell what metal
it is? It is brought in and given to the silversmith; he
no sooner receives it, than he begins to break it into
pieces; he dashes it into shivers again and again; he
pounds it until he has broken it, and then puts it into his
fining pot and melts it. Now you begin to see it sparkle
again, and by and by he beats it out and fashions it into
a goodly chalice, out of which a king may drink. Is
this the same? the very same thing. This glorious cup,
is this the old battered silver we saw just now? Yes,
it is the same, and we who are here below like vessels,
alas! too unfit for the Master's use; vessels which have
even given comfort to the evil ones, and helped to do
the work of Satan, we shall be put into the furnace of
the grave, and be there melted down and fused and
fashioned into a glorious wine cup, that in all its signifi
cance, shall stand upon the banqueting table of the Son
of God.
Resurrection of the Body.— The certainty of the resur
rection raises us above the dread which would otherwise
surround the dissolution of our body. A child sees a
man throwing precious metal into a melting pot, and he
is sad because fair silver is being destroyed; but he
that knows the business of the refiner understands
that no loss will come of the process; only the
228 SPURGEON'S ILLUSTRATIVE ANECDOTES
dross of that silver will be taken away, and the pure
molten mass poured out into a comely mold will yet
adorn a royal table. Well, my brethren, are we assured
that to lose this vile body is clear gain since it will be
fashioned according to the glorious body of the Lord
Jesus?
SALVATION
Free Salvation Suits AH.— Some years ago I had a very
high compliment paid me by a gentleman who intended
an insult. He ridiculed my preaching, and remarked
that it would be eminently suited to the lowest class of
negroes. This I accepted as an honorable admission,
for he who could reach and bless the black man will not
preach in vain to white people. I have heard of a
preacher of whom his detractors said that he might do
very well to preach to old women. Ah, then, he will
do for anybody. I suppose he would suit old women
because they were on the borders of the grave, and
that is where we all are, for we are all much nearer to
the grave than we imagine. Free salvation suits the
vilest of the vile, and it is equally suitable for the most
moral.
The Day of Probation.— An old eastern conqueror when
he came to a city used to light a brazier of coals, and,
setting it high upon a pole, he would, with sound of trum
pet, proclaim, that if they surrendered while the lamp
held out and burned he would have mercy upon them,
but that when the coals were out he would storm the
city, pull it stone from stone, sow it with salt, and put
men, and women and children to a bloody death. To-
day the thunders of God bid you to take like warning.
There is your light, the lamp, the brazier of hot coals,
Year after year the fire is dying out, nevertheless there
is coal left.
SALVATION 229
The Great Salvation.— The narrow-minded bigot limits
salvation to his own contracted notions, and he still says,
" There shall none be saved, except they walk arm-in-
arm with me." Poor, little, miserable soul! he cuts his
coat according to his own fashion, and declares, that if
men do not all cut their coats in the same way they
cannot be saved. But not so the Bible. The Bible
preaches a great salvation.
Salvation Only Through Christ.— The shiner in his nat
ural estate reminds me of a man who has a strong and
well-nigh impenetrable castle into which he has fled.
There is the outer moat; there is a second moat; there
are the high walls; and then afterward there is the dun
geon and keep, into which the sinner will retire. Now,
the first moat that goes round the sinner's trusting place
is his good works. " Ah ! " he says, " I am as good as
my neighbor; twenty shillings in the pound down, ready
money, I have always paid ; I am no sinner ; * I tithe
mint and cummin ; ' a good respectable gentleman I am
indeed." Well, when God comes to work with him, to
save him, he sends his army across the first moat; and
as they go through it, they cry, " Salvation is of the
Lord ; " and the moat is dried up, for if it be of the
Lord, how can it be of good works'? But when that is
done, he has a second intrenchment — ceremonies.
" Well," he says, " I will not trust in my good works,
but I have been baptized, I have been confirmed; do not
I take the sacrament ? That shall be my trust." " Over
the moat ! Over the moat ! " And the soldiers go over
again, shouting, " Salvation is of the Lord." The second
moat is dried up; it is all over with that. Now they
come to the next strong wall; the sinner, looking over
it, says, "I can repent, I can believe, whenever I like;
I will save myself by repenting and believing." Up come
the soldiers of God, his great army of conviction, and
230 SPURGEON'S ILLUSTRATIVE ANECDOTES
they batter this wall to the ground, crying, " * Salvation is
of the Lord/ Your faith and your repentance must all
be given you, or else you will neither believe nor repent
of sin." And now the castle is taken ; the man's
hopes are all cut off; he feels that it is not of self;
the castle of self is overcome, and the great banner
upon which is written " Salvation is of the Lord "
is displayed upon the battlements. But is the battle
over? O no; the sinner has retired to the keep,
in the center of the castle; and now he changes his tac
tics. "I cannot save myself," says he, "therefore I
will despair; there is no salvation for me." Now this
second castle is as hard to take as the first, for the sinner
sits down and says, "I can't be saved, I must perish."
But God commands the soldiers to take this castle, too,
shouting, " Salvation is of the Lord ; " tho it is not of
man, it is of God; u he is able to save, even to the utter
most," tho you can not save yourself. This sword, you
see, cuts two ways; it cuts pride down, and then it
cleaves the skull of despair. If any man say he can
save himself, it halveth his pride at once; and if another
man say he cannot be saved, it dasheth his despair to
the earth, for it affirms that he can be saved, seeing,
" Salvation is of the Lord." That is the effect this doc
trine has upon the sinner: may it have {Eat effect on
you!
The Sinner's Savior.— Kneeling by the bed of an appar
ently dying saint, last night, I said, " Well, sister, he has
been precious to you; you can rejoice in his covenant
mercies, and his past loving-kindnesses." She put out
her hand, and said, "Ah! sir, do not talk about them
now; I want the sinner's Savior as much now as ever;
it is not a saint's Savior I want; it is still a sinner's
Savior that I am in need of, for I am a sinner still." I
found that I could not comfort her with the past; so I
SALVATION 231
reminded her of the golden streets, of the gates of pearl,
of the walls of jasper, of the harps of gold, of the songs
of bliss; and then her eye glistened; she said, "Yes, I
shall be there soon ; I shall meet them by and by ; " and
then she seemed so glad!
Sinners Clothed With Christ. — I remember well, how once
God preached to me by a similitude in the depth of win
ter. The earth had been black, and there was scarcely
a green thing or a flower to be seen. As you looked
across the field, there was nothing but blackness — bare
hedges and leafless trees, and black, black earth, where-
ever you looked. On a sudden God spake, and unlocked
the treasures of the snow, and white flakes descended
until there was no blackness to be seen, and all was one
sheet of dazzling whiteness. It was at that time that
I was seeking the Savior, and it was then I found him;
and I remember well that sermon which I saw before me;
" Come now, and let us reason together ; tho your sins
be as scarlet they shall be as snow, tho they be red like
crimson they shall be whiter than wool." Shiner! thy
heart is like that black ground; thy soul is like that
black tree and hedgerow, without leaf or blossom; God's
grace is like the white snow — it shall fall upon thee till
thy doubting heart shall glitter in whiteness of pardon,
and thy poor black soul shall be covered with the spotless
purity of the Son of God. He seems to say to you,
" Sinner, you are black, but I am ready to forgive you ;
I will wrap my heart in the ermine of my Son's right
eousness, and with my Son's own garments on, thou shalt
be holy as the Holy One."
The Key to Salvation.— A minister was one day going to
preach. He climbed a hill on his road. Beneath him
lay the villages, sleeping in their beauty, with the corn
fields motionless in the sunshine; but he did not look at
them, for his attention was arrested by a woman standing
232 SPURGEON'S ILLUSTRATIVE ANECDOTES
at her door, and who, upon seeing him, came up to him
with the greatest anxiety, and said, " 0, sir, have you
any keys about you? I have broken the key of my
drawers, and there are some things that I must get di
rectly." Said he, " I have no keys." She was disap
pointed, expecting that every one would have keys. " But
suppose," he said, " I had some keys, they might not fit
your lock, and therefore you could not get the articles
you want. But do not distress yourself, wait till some
one else comes up. But," said he, wishing to improve the
occasion, " have you never heard of the key of heaven ? "
" Ah ! yes," she said, " I have lived long enough, and
have gone to church long enough to know that if we
work hard and get our bread by the sweat of our brow,
and act well toward our neighbors, and behave, as the
catechism says, lowly and reverently to all our betters,
and if we do our duty in that station of life in which it
has pleased God to place us, and say our prayers regu
larly, we shall be saved." " Ah ! " said he, " my good
woman, that is a broken key, for you have broken the
commandments, you have not fulfilled all your duties.
It is a good key, but you have broken it." " Pray, sir,"
said she, believing that he understood the matter, and
looking frightened, "what have I left out?" "Why,"
said he, ei the all-important thing, the blood of Jesus
Christ. Don't you know it is said, the key of heaven is
at his girdle; he openeth, and no man shutteth; he
shutteth, and no man openeth ? "
Bread Without Price. — I know a brother here who wanted
to take a certain shop in a wide street, but his wiser
friend said, "Do not take that shop for a baker's. It
is not a good eating locality. You must open a shop
in one of the streets where there are plenty of poor peo
ple, who will buy the bread every morning. Make it
good and cheap, and it will not stop long on the shelves."
SALVATION 233
I noticed in the newspaper that a certain drink-shop was
"in a good drinking locality." I am sorry that there
are such localities. But, assuredly, a good eating lo
cality must be the very place for vending bread. I think
that this Tabernacle stands in a good eating locality.
Many are here now who are hungry after Christ, and it
is a blessed fact that they may have him, and feed upon
him without stint. And what is the price1? The price?
The difficulty with all other traders is to get you up
to their price; but my difficulty is to get you down to
mine — for the bread of heaven is without price.
Folly of Rejecting Salvation. — A man may act the cripple
till he grows hopelessly lame. Mind what you are at.
You may lock a door, and open it again for many a
year; but one of these days you may so hamper the
lock that it will not open again. Oh, that you may at
once believe in Jesus Christ unto eternal life !
Permanence of Grace.— It may seem somewhat strange to
you, but that form of loving kindness which mainly drew
me to the Lord was this — I saw a good deal of the in
stability of character in young men who begin life with
bright prospects and fair promises, and I trembled for
my own future. I read in the New Testament that he
that believeth in Jesus hath everlasting life. I saw in
the language of Christ himself these words —"I give
unto my sheep eternal life, and they shall never perish,
neither shall any man pluck them out of my hands."
Oh, how I longed to be one of these sheep, in the hands
of Jesus! I had known schoolfellows who were held up
as patterns to me, who acted very disappointingly after
they left home ; and I thought within myself : Oh, for a
spiritual life insurance! Oh, for a way of putting my
soul into secure keeping, so that I shall not become the
prey of sin, but shall be kept by the grace of God even
to the end! The belief that I should find this perma-
334 SPURGEON'S ILLUSTRATIVE ANECDOTES
nence of grace in Christ Jesus drew me more than any
thing else to Jesus.
No Condemnation for the Saved.— When Giant Despair's
head was cut off, Mr. Bunyan says that the pilgrims
danced; and well they might. Mr. Despondency and
Miss Much-afraid took a turn, and even Ready-to-Halt
with his crutches must needs join in. I warrant you
he footed it well. When he saw the monster's head upon
the pole he could not help being merry. This text sticks
the giant's head up on the pole for us. " There is there
fore now no condemnation." Oh for the loud-sounding
cymbals! Now for the maidens and their timbrels. Let
us have holy merriment over this. Poor prodigal sinners
have fled to Jesus and hidden in him, and there is now
no condemnation to them. Poverty? Yes, but no con
demnation. Depression of spirit? Yes, sometimes; but
no condemnation. Infirmities and weaknesses, and things
to grieve over? Yes, plenty of them, but no condemna
tion. " 0 come, let us sing unto the Lord : let us make
a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation ! "
Not by Works but Grace.— Remember how Mr. Bunyan
says that, when he was a godless man, he could have
kissed the earth on which the clergy walked, and he
thought that every nail in the church door was sacred.
Among dissenters, the man who is trying to save himself
usually thinks that every practice of the little com
munity with which he is united is infallibly correct. He
has no real love to Christ, and has on trust in Christ's
righteousness: but how he will work at his favorite self-
salvation! And you will have to work at it, sirs, if you
are going to heaven by your works! To work your
fingers to the bones is nothing. You might as well try
to climb to the stars on a treadmill as to get to heaven
by your good works; and, certainly, you might more
easily sail from Liverpool to America on a sere leaf than
SALVATION 235
ever get to heaven by works and doings of your own.
There is more wanted than will ever come of yourself.
You want a Savior. You must be born again from
above. You want a salvation that shall be a gift of
infinite charity, a benison of the boundless mercy of the
eternal God; and nothing else will save you.
Saved by Submission. — You have heard the story of the
English king who was wroth with the burgesses of Calais,
and declared that he would hang six of them. They came
to him with ropes about their necks, submitting to their
doom. That is the way in which I came to Jesus. I ac
cepted my punishment, pleaded guilty, and begged for
pardon. Put your rope upon your neck; confess that
you deserve to die, and come to Jesus. Put no honeyed
words into your mouth; turn out that nonsense of self-
righteousness from your heart, and cry, " Save, Lord,
or I perish ! " If thus you plead you shall never
perish. You are the kind of man for whom Christ
died — the sort of man whom he never did spurn, and
never will spurn, while the world standeth.
Knocking far Mercy.-— If I have to enter in by a door
which is well secured, I shall need tools and science. I
confess I do not understand the art; you must send for
a gentleman who understands picklocks, " jemmies," and
all sorts of burglarious instruments: but if I am only
told to knock, fool as I am at opening doors, I know
how to knock. Any uneducated man can knock if that
is all which is required of him. Is there a person here
who cannot put words together in prayer? Never mind,
friend; knocking can be done by one who is no orator.
Perhaps another cries, " I am no scholar." Never mind,
a man can knock tho he may be no philosopher. A dumb
man can knock. A blind man can knock. With a
palsied hand a man may knock. He who knows
nothing of his book can still lift a hammer and let it
236 SPURGEON'S ILLUSTRATIVE ANECDOTES
fall. The way to open heaven's gate is wonderfully
simplified to those who are lowly enough to follow the
Holy Spirit's guidance, and ask, seek, and knock be-
lievingly.
Running Into God's Arms. — Some years ago I was walk
ing in the garden one evening, and I saw a stray dog
about whom I had received information that he was in
the habit of visiting my grounds, and that he did not in
the least assist the gardener, and therefore his attentions
were not desired. As I walked along one Saturday
evening meditating upon my sermon, I saw this dog
busily doing mischief. I threw my stick at him, and
told him to go home. But what do you think he did?
Instead of grinding his teeth at me, or hurrying off with
a howl, he looked at me very pleasantly, took up my
stick in his mouth, and brought it to me and then, wag
ging his tail, he laid the stick at my feet, The tears
were in my eyes : the dog had beaten me. I said, " Good
dog! Good dog; you may come here when you like
after that." Why had the dog conquered me? Because
he had confidence in me, and would not believe that I
could mean him any hurt. To turn to grander things:
the Lord himself cannot resist humble confidence. Do
you not see how a sinner brings, as it were, the rod of
justice to the Lord, and cries, " If thou smite me, I de
serve it, but I submit to thee." The great God cannot
spurn a trustful heart. It is impossible. He were not
God if he could cast the soul away that implicitly relies
on him. This is the power of faith, then, and I marvel
not that the Lord should have chosen it, for believing is
a thing most pleasing to God. O that you would all
trust him ! God lifts his sword against you — run into
his arms. He threatens you — grasp his promise. He
pursues you — fly to his dear Son. Trust at the foot of
the cross in his full atonement, and you must be saved.
SALVATION 237
Hungry for Salvation. — A wretched sinner jumps at mercy
like a hungry fish leaping at the bait. When a soul is
empty then it longs for the fulness of Christ, but not till
then. Full souls quarrel over honeycombs, they are not
sweet enough for them; but to the hungry man even
every bitter thing is sweet. A man who is conscious of
sin will not quibble about the way of grace, but if par
don is to be had he will have it at once : whoever may
be silent, you will hear his voice crying aloud, " Thou
Son of David, have mercy on me ! "
Only Candidates Elected. — Perhaps you have read the
story of a governor of one of the American States who
called at a hotel where there was a colored waiter, who
was well known to hold Calvinistic opinions, and was,
therefore, made the butt for many a jest. So the Gov
ernor said to him, " Sam, you do not really believe that
doctrine of election, do you?" "'Deed I do, sah," said
he. "Well, then," replied the Governor, "tell me
whether I am elect or not." " Sah," said the negro, " I
did not know you were a candidate, and I know nothing
about a man's ever being elected if he has not put up
for it."
Insecure Foundations.— Your good works are good enough
in themselves — good enough in your generation — but
they will never do for a foundation to rest upon. Do
not run away and say something like the foolish man
who went to a place where there was a house being built,
and seeing the chimney pots standing there., he took
them, and laid them in the trench to make the founda
tion. "What are you doing?" said one of the work
man. "Why, laying the foundation?" "What, i*ith
the chimney-pots?" "I did not know that it war
wrong," said he. "Well, take them away; they i*on;»
do for a foundation." " Oh ! " said the other, " vou are
finding fault with them." "No; T am not Ending fp.r.H
a38 SPURGEON'S ILLUSTRATIVE ANECDOTES
with them, but with the place where you put them; they
are good enough on the top, but they will not do at the
bottom." So with good works; they will do at tne top,
but they will not do at the bottom. As a foundation
for the soul to rest upon nothing will suffice but the
righteousness of Christ and his finished work. This is
our hope of salvation. Our good works are good enough
afterwards, when God the Holy Spirit by his grace works
faith, and love, and all good things in us.
The Water of Life.— As I walked over a long sandy road
one day last week, when the weather was sultry, and the
heat, far beyond our common expereince in this country,
was almost tropical, I saw a little stream of cool water,
and being parched with thirst I stooped down and drank.
Do you think I asked anybody's leave or inquired
whether I might drink or not? I didn't know who it be
longed to, and I didn't care. There it was, and I felt
if it was there it was enough for me. Nobody was there
to call out " Ho ! " My inward craving called out
" Ho ! " I was thirsty, and water was there inviting to my
taste. I noticed after I had drank that there were two
poor tramps came along, and they went down and drank
in like manner. I didn't find anybody marching them
off to prison. There was the stream. The stream being
there, and the thirsty men being there, the supply was
suited to their need, and they promptly partook of it.
How strange it is that when God has provided the gos
pel, and men want it, they should require somebody to
call out to them, " Ho ! ho ! ho ! " and then they will not
come after all. Oh! if they were a little more thirsty,
if they did but know their need more, if they were con
vinced more of their sin, then they would scarcely want
an invitation, but the mere fact of a supply would be
sufficient for them, and they would come and drink, and
satisfy the burning thirst within.
SALVATION 330
Our Part in Salvation.— A poor simpleton once said,
" 'Twas God and I did the work." " Well, but Charlie,
what part did you take in it ? " " Sure, then," said he,
" I did all I could to stop the Lord, and he beat me."
I suppose, did we tell the simple truth we should say
much the same. In the matter of our salvation we do
all we can to oppose it — our old nature does — and he
overcomes our evil propensities. From first to last Jesus
Christ has to be the Author and the Finisher of our
salvation, or it never would have been begun and it never
would have been completed.
Universal Amnesty.— When Charles II. came back to
England there was an amnesty, except for certain per
sons, and these were mentioned by name — Hugh Peters
and others were proscribed; but there is no exception
here. I find not any traitors singled out and denounced
by name. I have to proclaim an indemnity of such uni
versal import that it is indiscriminate, " Whosoever be-
lieveth on him shall never perish, but shall have ever
lasting life."
Safe in the Ark.— We never read that Noah called up
Shem, Ham, and Japheth to work at the pumps, nor yet
that they had any, for there was not a bit of leakage
about her. No doubt there were storms during that
year; but we do not hear that the ship was ever in danger
of being wrecked. The rocks, it is true, were too low
down to touch her bottom; for fifteen cubits upwards
did the waters prevail, and the mountains were covered.
Rising twenty-seven feet above the loftiest mountains,
she had no quicksands to fear; they were too deep below
her keel. But of course she was exposed to the winds;
sometimes the hurricane might have rattled against her,
and driven her along. Doubtless, at another time, the
hail beat on her top, and the lightnings scarred the brow
of night; but the ark sailed on, not one was cast out
240 SPURGEON'S ILLUSTRATIVE ANECDOTES
from her, nor were her sailors wearied with constant
pumping to keep out the water, or frequent repairs to
keep her secure. Tho the world was inundated and
ruined, that one ark sailed triumphantly above the
waters. The ark was safe, and all who were in her were
safe, too.
SATAN
Resist the Devil. — I remember hearing a good brother
speak about courage against the devil, and in reference
to spiritual power he said that he believed that a man
of God, when he had faith, could kick his way through
a street full of devils from one end to the other. I ad
mired his simile. It was worthy of Martin Luther, for
it was the kind of thing that Martin Luther would have
said. Oh, if the air were as full of devils as it is of
fogs, a man that has God within him might laugh them
all to scorn. Who can hurt the man whom God pro
tects?
Defeating the Devil.— - 1 met the other day with a piece
of one of Christmas Evans's sermons — it struck me
forcibly, and I determined to repeat it — " The enemy is
ever after our souls; let us keep our hearts with all dili
gence; let us store our hearts with texts of Scripture,
in the things given, that we may be kept out of the way."
Then he gives this parable — " Once upon a time the devil
determined to do a mighty business. Seeking whom he
may devour, he went through the land, determined to
devour some souls. He came upon a ploughboy stand
ing there, and he said to himself, ' I will tempt the boy
to rob his master; then he will get into prison; t'will
bring him into bad company, so that he will get worse,
and be transported, and ultimately get to the gallows,
and I shall have his soul forever/ The devil strode
SATAN 34*
across the moor, and, as he approached the ploughboy,
he heard him singing —
' My God, the spring of all my joys,
The life of my delights,
The glory of my brightest days,
And comfort of my nights.'
' Ah ! ' said the devil, ' he won't answer my purpose,1
and off he went. There was no room for him there; it
was a dry place. So, flying over hill and dale, he came
to a quiet nook in a valley between two high moun
tains, where there was a sweet little cottage overgrown
with ivy, with its porch covered with eglantine. There
sat beneath the porch a maiden knitting. * I will entice
her/ said he, ' away to the big town, and lead her into
ways of folly, and sin, and shame. She shall perish in
an infirmary, and her soul will be mine for ever/ He
stooped to whisper in her ear some temptation, but he
heard her singing —
* Jesus, I love thy charming name,
' Tis music to mine ear ;
Fain would I sound it out so loud
That earth and heaven should hear.'
' That won't answer/ said he ; and he went his way, say
ing, ' I should have done better to have been with old
Williams all day; I could have tormented the old fel
low: I will be off to him now/ So he flew away, and
at nightfall alighted in a village. All the lamps were
out save one, in a cottage, where he saw the light glim
mering in an upper room. It seemed to be a rushlight
dying in the socket. ' Here/ said he, ' old Williams lives.
He has served God these fifty years, and if I could get
him now, what a trophy he would be! it would pay me
for all my disappointments if I could get old Williams
after all his professions. He stepped up stairs, and
242 SPURGEON'S ILLUSTRATIVE ANECDOTES
there Williams lay dying. l Now,' said he, i I will make
him doubt, and die in despair, and perish ! ' The crisis
was just come; his friends were gathering round his bed,
expecting his departure. Satan stepped lightly across
the room, to get at the dying man's ear; and as he came
close to him, Williams stretched out his hand, and said,
'Yea, tho I pass through the valley of the shadow of
death I will fear no evil; for thou art with me, thy rod
and thy staff they comfort me ! ' l Thou hast prepared
a table before me in the presence of mine enemies/
Satan shrank back abashed, and went away howling. He
did no more that day, and never had he done such a sorry
day's work before. He was wholly beaten, entirely
overcome, because the minds of the people whom he
wished to attack had been pre-occupied, and they were
feeding on God's word."
Satan and Our Weak Spot.— We have all our tender
spots. When Thetis dipped Achilles in the Styx, you
remember she held him by the heel; he was made in
vulnerable wherever the water touched him, but his heel
not being covered with the water, was vulnerable, and
there Paris shot his arrow, and he died. It is even so
with us. We may think that we are covered with virtue
till we are totally invulnerable, but we have a heel some
where; there is a place where the arrow of the devil can
make way: hence the absolute necessity of taking to
ourselves " the whole armor of God," so that there may
not be a solitary joint in the harness that shall be un
protected against the arrows of the devil. Satan is very
crafty; he knows the ins and outs of manhood. There
is many an old castle that has stood against every at
tack, but at last some traitor from within has gone with
out, and said, " I know an old deserted passage, a sub
terranean back way, that has not been used for many a
day. In such and such a field you will see an opening;
SERVICE 243
clear away a heap of stones there, and I will lead you
down the passage: you will then come to an old door of
which I have the key, and I can let you in; and so "by
a back way I can lead you into the very heart of the
citadel, which you may then easily capture." It is so
with Satan. Man knoweth not himself so well as Satan
knows him. There are back ways and subterranean pas
sages into man's heart which the devil doth well under
stand; and he who thinketh that he is safe, let him take
heed lest he fall.
The Devil's Advocate.— They used to have in Rome when
they were canonizing saints an Advocatus Diaboli^ or
advocate of the devil, who was wont to plead against the
person being canonized, and offer all the objections he
could. It seems strange that so many people should
turn Advocati Diaboli against themselves. I can tell you
how they argue, for I have talked to them by the hour,
and this has been the fashion of their counter-pleading,
" But, sir, I don't feel any need of it." We reply, " If
you cannot go to Christ with a broken heart, go to
Christ for a broken heart." " Oh, but, sir, I don't feel
that I am fit to go." "Your unfitness is the only evi
dence he wants." "But I don't think I have repented
enough." " Granted ; and you never will repent enough,
could your tears forever flow. You cannot be saved
by the merit of your repentance.
SERVICE
The Blessedness of Service.— A little stream flowed
through a manufacturing town ; an unhappy little stream
it was, for it was forced to turn huge wheels and heavy
machinery, and it wound its miserable way through fac
tories where it was dyed black and blue, until it became
a foul and filthy ditch, and loathed itself. It felt the
tyranny which polluted its very existence. Now, there
244 SPURGEON'S ILLUSTRATIVE ANECDOTES
came a deliverer who looked upon the streamlet and
said, " I will set thee free and give thee rest." So he
stopped up the water-course, and said, "Abide in thy
place, thou shalt no more flow where thou art enslaved
and den* led/' In a very few days the brooklet found
that it had but exchanged one evil for another. Its
waters were stagnating, they were gathering into a great
pool, and desiring to find a channel. It was in its very
nature to flow on, and it foamed and swelled, and pressed
against the dam which stayed it. Every hour it grew
more inwardly restless, it threatened to break the bar
rier, and it made all who saw its angry looks tremble
for the mischief it would do ere long. It never found
rest until it was permitted to pursue an active course
along a channel which had been prepared for it among
the meadows and the corn fields. Then, when it watered
the plains and made glad the villages, it was a happy
streamlet, perfectly at rest. So our souls are made for
activity, and when we are set free from the activities of
our self-righteousness and the slavery of our sin we
must do something, and we shall never rest until we find
that something to do.
The Joy of Service.— Last Monday I was cheered beyond
all I can tell you by a letter from a brother who had
been restored to life, light, and liberty by the discourse
of last Sabbath morning. I know no greater joy than
to be useful to your souls. For this reason, I have tried
to preach this morning, tho I am quite unfit for it
physically. Oh, I do pray I may hear more news from
saved ones! Oh, that some spirit that has wandered
out into the dark moorland may spy the candle in my
window, and find its way home! If you have found
my Lord, I charge you never let him go, but cleave to
him till the day shall break, and the shadows themselves
shall flee away.
SERVICE 245
Persevering Service.— You know the story of the man
who comes riding up to the captain, and says, " Sir, we
have taken a gun from the enemy." " Go and take
another," said the matter-of-fact officer. That is the
best advice which I can render to a friend who is elated
with his own success. So much remains to be accom
plished that we have no time to consider what has been
done. If we have done holy service, let us do it a sec
ond time, and do it a third time, and continue to do it,
ever praying the Lord to accept our persevering service.
In any case let our consecrated life be for our Lord's
eye alone, a spring shut up, a fountain sealed. Any
thing like sounding a trumpet before us is hateful to the
lowly Lord ; secrecy has a charm for Jesus, and the more
carefully we preserve it the better.
The Service of Love.— It is said that the soldiers of Persia
were driven into battle, and that the sound of the whips
of the generals could be heard even while the battle was
raging, lashing on the unwilling ranks to fulfil their
part in the fray. Not so went the Greeks to battle.
They rushed like lions amidst a flock of sheep to tear
their prey. They fought for their country, for their
temples, for their lives, for all that they held dear, and
right cheerfully from such an impulse within did they
engage in the war. The difference between the Greeks
and the Persians is just the difference I want to describe
among the professed followers of our Lord. The genu
ine Christian serves God because he loves him; not that
he fears hell, for he knows that he has been delivered
from condemnation, being washed in Jesus' blood; not
that he expects to earn heaven, he scorns the idea.
Heaven is not to be merited by our poor paltry works.
And besides, heaven is his inheritance, since Christ has
given it to him, having made his title sure. But he
serves God because he loves him. He is drawn by a
246 SPURGEON'S ILLUSTRATIVE ANECDOTES
sense of the love of God towards him to love God in
return.
SIN
Time Cannot Cover Sin.— When the trumpet of resur
rection sounds, there will be a resurrection of characters,
as well as of men. The man who has been foully
slandered will rejoice in the light that reflects his purity.
But the man whose latent vices have been skilfully
veneered will be brought to the light, too. His acts and
motives will be alike exposed. As he himself looks and
sees the resuscitation of his crimes, with what horror
will he face that day of judgment ! " Ah ! ah ! " says
he ; " Where am I ? I had forgotten these. These are
the sins of my childhood, the sins of my youth, the
sins of my manhood, and the sins of my old age.
I thought they were dead and buried, but they start
from their tombs. My memory has been quickened.
How my brain reels as I think of them all! But there
they are, and, like so many wolves around me, they
seem all thirsting for my destruction." Beware, oh men !
Ye have buried your sins, but they will rise up from
their graves and accuse you before God. Time cannot
cover them.
The Sting of Death.— Imagine a conqueror's deathbed.
He has been a man of blood from his youth up. Bred
in the camp, his lips were early set to the bugle, and
his hand, even in infancy, struck the drum. He had a
martial spirit; he delighted in the fame and applause
of men; he loved the dust of battle and the garment
rolled in blood. He has lived a life of what men call
glory. He has stormed cities, conquered countries, rav
aged continents, overrun the world. See his banners
hanging in the hall, and the marks of glory on his
escutcheon. He is one of earth's proudest warriors.
SIN 247
But now he comes to die, and when he lies down to
expire, what shall invest his death with horror? It
shall be his sin. Methinks I see the monarch dying; he
lies in state; around him are his nobles and his council
lors; but there is somewhat else there. Hard by his
side there stands a spirit from Hades; it is a soul of
a departed woman. She looks on him and says, " Mon
ster! my husband was slain in battle through thy ambi
tion: I was made a widow, and my helpless orphans and
myself were starved." And she passes by. Her hus
band comes, and opening wide his bloody wounds, he
cries, " Once I called thee monarch ; but, by thy vile
covetousness thou didst provoke an unjust war. See
here these wounds — I gained them in the siege. For
thy sake I mounted first the scaling ladder; this foot
stood upon the top of the wall, and I waved my sword
in triumph, but in hell I lifted up my eyes in torment.
Base wretch, thine ambition hurried me thither ! "
Turning his horrid eyes upon him, he passes by. Then
up comes another, and another, and another yet: wak
ing from their tombs, they stalk around his bed and
haunt him; the dreary procession still marches on, look
ing at the dying tyrant. He shuts his eyes, but he feels
the cold and bony hand upon his forehead; he quivers,
for the sting of death is in his heart. "0 Death!"
says he; "to leave this large estate, this mighty realm,
this pomp and power — this were somewhat ; but to
meet those men, those women, and those orphan children,
face to face ; to hear them saying ; ' Art thou become like
one of us?' while kings whom I have dethroned, and
monarchs whom I have cast down shall rattle their chains
in my ears, and say, ' Thou wast our destroyer, but how
art thou fallen from heaven, 0 Lucifer, son of the morn
ing! How art thou brought down as in a moment from
thy glory and thy pride ! ' ' There, you see, the sting
348 SPURGEON'S ILLUSTRATIVE ANECDOTES
of death would be the man's sin. It would not sting him
that he had to die, but that he had sinned, that he had
been a bloody man, that his hands were red with whole
sale murder — this would plague him indeed, for " the
sting of death is sin."
Sin's Cruel Work. — When we discover that our iniquities
put our dearest and best friend to death, we vow re
venge against our iniquities and henceforth hate them
with a perfect hatred. Let me illustrate this very sim
ply. Here is a knife, with a richly-carved ivory handle,
a knife of excellent workmanship. Yonder woman, we
will suppose, has had a dear child murdered by a cruel
enemy. This knife is hers, she is pleased with it, and
prizes it much. How can I make her throw that knife
away? I can do it easily, for that is the knife with
which her child was killed. Look at it; there is blood
still upon the handle. She drops it as tho it were a
scorpion ; she cannot bear it. " Put it away," saith she,
"it killed my child! Oh, hateful thing!" Now, sin is
such a thing: we play with it till we are told it was sin
that killed the Lord Jesus, who died out of love to us —
pure, disinterested love. Then we say, "Hateful thing,
get thee gone ! How can I endure thee f " Remember
how Mark Antony stirred up the Romans to a fury
against Caesar's murderers. Holding up the mantle of
dead Caesar, he pointed to the rents and gashes in the
garment —
"In this place ran Cassius' dagger through;
Through this the well-beloved Brutus stabbed."
And thus he inflamed the multitude to such a pitch of
fury that they snatched up the seats around them, and
away they went to the houses of the conspirators to set
them on a blaze. Ah! if my lips could speak as my
heart bids them, I would cry, See there the wounds of
SIN 249
the Son of God; behold the crimson stains which mark
his blessed body: mark the thorn-crown; gaze upon the
pierced hands; weep over the nailed feet; see the deep
gash which the lance made in his side! Sin did this
cruel work, this bloody deed ! Down with our sins ; drag
them to the cross; slay them at Calvary; let not one of
them escape, for they are the murderers of Christ!
Afraid of Sin.— Ulysses Androvaldus tells us that a dove
is so afraid of a hawk, that she will be frightened at the
sight of one of its feathers. Whether it be so or not,
I cannot tell; but this I know, that when a man has had
a thorough shaking over the jaws of hell, he will be so
afraid of sin, that even one of the feathers of it, any
one sin, will alarm and send a thrill of fear through his
soul. This is a part of the way by which the Lord turns
us when we are turned indeed.
A True Sight of Sin. — We have all seen bears in a pit,
and lions in stone, and have seen them without alarm;
but I can readily imagine that if a lion were suddenly
to leap from my platform into the midst of this throng,
you would regard it with a very different eye. A wild
beast let loose among you would be a very different thing
from what it is in a picture or a statue. Now, sin, as
the preacher talks of it, is to most of you like a painted
lion; but when a man feels it in his own soul as a living
evil full of mischief, it is a very different thing. We
are like the man in the fable, who warmed a frozen
viper in his bosom; but when it came to life he knew
its poisonous nature, for he felt the venom in his veins.
Men, before God quickens them, nurse the viper of sin in
their bosom, and say, "Look at its azure scales; how
fair it is to look upon! Do you suppose so harmless a
creature could ever do me injury?" They put it in
their bosoms with much fondness; but when it bites
them, and the hot poison runs through their veins, and
aso SPURGEON'S ILLUSTRATIVE ANECDOTES
conscience is thoroughly awakened, then they loathe it
and cast it from them, or rather would do so if they
could; but as Laocoon, in the old story, tried in vain
to tear the serpent's coils from his limbs, so is it with
them until grace comes to their aid. At any rate, a
true sight of sin soon turns a man most thoroughly from
his former love of it.
Sin Must be Abandoned.— I know that there are some
here, and there always have been some few attending
my ministry, who have a personal affection for me, and
who listen to the Word with very great attention, and
who, moreover, are very greatly moved by it, but who
have some besetting sin which they either cannot or will
not give up. They do renounce it for a time; but either
bad associates, or else the strength of their passions,
take them away again. Oh, sirs! I would ye would take
warning. There was one of whom we had some sort of
hope, who listened to our ministry. There came a turn
ing-point with him. It was this: either that he must
give up sin, or else give up coming to the Tabernacle.
And what, oh! what became of him? I could indicate
the place where he sat. He died of delirium tremens!
And I do not wonder.
Danger of Little Sins. — St. Augustine gives a picture of
how far men will go when they once begin to sin.
There was a man who in argument declared that the
devil made flies ; " Well," said the man with whom he
was arguing, " if the devil made flies, then it is but little
more to say the devil made worms ! " " Well," said the
other, "I believe it." "Well," said the man, "if the
devil made worms, how do you know but what he made
small birds?" "Well," said the other, "it is likely he
did ! " " Well," resumed the man with whom he was
arguing, " but if he made small birds, why may he not
have made big ones? And if he made big birds, why
SIN a$i
may he not have made man ? And if he made man, why
may he have not made the world ? " " You see," says
St. Augustine, "by one admission, by once permitting
the devil to be thought the creator of a fly, the man
came to believe that the devil was the Creator." Just
get one small error into your minds, get one small evil
into your thoughts, commit one small act of sin in your
life, permit these things to be dandled, and fondled,
favored, petted, and treated with respect, and you can
not tell whereunto they may grow. They are small in
their infancy; they will be giants when they come to
their full growth. Thou little knowest how near thy
soul may be to destruction, when thou wantonly in-
dulgest in the smallest act of sin !
Secret Love for Sin. — Rowland Hills tells a curious tale
of one of his hearers who sometimes visited the theater.
He was a member of the church. So going to see him,
he said, I understand Mr. So and so, you are very fond
of frequenting the theater. No, sir, he said, that's false.
I go now and then just for a great treat, still I don't
go because I like it; it is not a habit of mine. Well,
said Rowland Hill, suppose some one should say to me,
Mr. Hill, I understand you eat carrion, and I should
say, No, no, I don't eat carrion. It is true, I now and
then have a piece of carrion for a great treat. Why,
he would say, you have convicted yourself, it shows that
you like it better than most people, because you save it
up for a special treat. Other men only take it as com
mon daily food, but you keep it by way of a treat. It
shows the deceitfulness of your heart, and manifests
that in spite of what you may think you still love the
ways and wages of sin.
The Thistle-Seed.— Years ago there was not a single
thistle in the whole of Australia. Some Scotchman who
very much admired thistles — rather acre than I do —
252 SPURGEON'S ILLUSTRATIVE ANECDOTES
thought it was a pity that a great island like Australia
should be without that marvellous and glorious symbol
of his great nation. He, therefore, collected a packet of
thistle-seeds, and sent it over to one of his friends in
Australia. Well, when it was landed, the officers might
have said, "Oh, let it in; ' is it not a little one?7 Here
is but a handful of thistle-down, oh, let it come in; it
will be but sown in a garden — the Scotch will grow it
in their gardens; they think it a fine flower, no doubt, —
let them have it, it is but meant for their amusement."
Ah, yes, it was but a little one; but now whole districts
of country are covered with it, and it has become the
farmer's pest and plague. It was a little one; but, all
the worse for that, it multiplied and grew. If it had
been a great evil, all men would have set to work to
crush it. This little evil is not to be eradicated, and
of that country it may be said till doomsday,—" Thorns
and thistles shall it bring forth." Happy would it have
been if the ship that brought that seed had been
wrecked. No boon is it to those of our countrymen
there on the other side of the earth, but a vast curse.
Take heed of the thistle-seed; little sins are like it. Take
care they are not admitted into your heart. Endeavor
to shun them as soon as Satan presents them. Go, seek
by the grace of God and his Holy Spirit to keep them
away; for if not, these little sins will multiply so fast,
that, altho you remain wholly unconscious of it, they
will be your ruin and destruction.
Hidden Sin. — Some people I know of are like inns, which
have an angel hanging outside for a sign, but they have
a devil within for a landlord. There are many men of
that kind; they take good care to have an excellent sign
hanging out; they must be known by all men to be
strictly religious; but within, which is the all-important
matter, they are full of wickedness.
SIN 253
Sin Will Not Stay Hidden.— There is a singular poem by
Hood, called " The Dream of Eugene Aram " — a most
remarkable piece it is indeed, illustrating the point on
which I am now dwelling. Aram has murdered a man
and cast his body into the river —"a sluggish water,
black as ink, the depth was so extreme." The next morn
ing he visited the scene of his guilt,
" And sought the black accursed pool,
With a wild misgiving eye;
And he saw the dead in the river bed,
For the faithless stream was dry."
Next he covered the corpse with heaps of leaves, but a
mighty wind swept through the wood and left the secret
bare before the sun.
" Then down I cast me on my face,
And first began to weep,
For I knew my secret then was one
That earth refused to keep,
On land or sea, though it should be
Ten thousand fathoms deep."
In plaintive notes he prophesies his own discovery. He
buried his victim in a cave, and trod him down with
stones, but when years had run their weary round the
foul deed was discovered and the murderer put to death.
Sin Will Out.—- Sin cannot be held in with bit and bridle.
" But I am going to have a little drink now and then.
I am only going to be intoxicated once a week or so.
Nobody will see it; I shall be in bed directly." You
will be drunk in the streets soon. " I am only just going
to read one lascivious book; I will put it under the sofa-
cover when anyone comes in." You will keep it in your
library yet, sir. " I am only going into that company
now and then." You will go there every day, such is
the bewitching character of it; you cannot help it. You
254 SPURGEON'S ILLUSTRATIVE ANECDOTES
may as well ask the lion to let you put your head into
his mouth. You cannot regulate his jaws, neither can
you regulate sin. Once go into it, you cannot tell when
you will be destroyed. You may be such a fortunate
individual, that, like Van Amburgh, you may put your
head in and out a great many times; rest assured that
one of these days it will be a costly venture. Again,
you may labor to conceal your vicious habit, but it will
come out, you cannot help it. You keep your little pet
sin at home; but mark this, when the door is ajar the
dog will be out in the street.
Presumptuous Sins.— You remind me, some of you, of
that story of Dionysius the tyrant, who, wishing to pun
ish one who had displeased him, invited him to a noble
feast. Rich were the viands that were spread upon the
table, and rare the wines of which he was invited to
drink. A chair was placed at the head of the table,
and the guest was seated within it. Horror of horrors!
The feast might be rich, but the guest was miserable,
dreadful beyond thought. However splendid might be
the array of the servants, and however rich the dainties,
yet he who had been invited sat there in agony. For
what reason? Because over his head, immediately over
it, there hung a sword, a furbished sword, suspended by
a single hair. He had to sit all the time with this sword
above him, with nothing but a hair between him and
death. You may conceive the poor man's misery. He
could not escape; he must sit where he was. How could
he feast? How could he rejoice! But 0, my uncon
verted hearer, thou art there this morning, man, with all
thy riches and thy wealth before thee, with the com
forts of a home and the joys of a household; thou art
there this day, in a place from which thou canst not
escape; the sword of death above thee, prepared to de
scend; and woe unto thee, when it shall cleave thy soul
SIN 255
from thy body. Canst thou yet make mirth, and yet
procrastinate? If thou canst, then1 verily thy sin is
presumptuous in a high degree. " Keep back thy servant
also from presumptuous sins."
The Bravado of Sin. — A mouse was caught in a trap, the
other day, by its tail, and the poor creature went on
eating the cheese. Many men are doing the same; they
know they are guilty, and they dread their punishment,
but they go on nibbling at their beloved sins. They
remind me of the soldier in the old classic story. The
army marched through a certain country, and the com-
mander-in-chief ordered that there should be no plunder
ing; not a man must touch a bunch of grapes in going
through the vineyards, or he should die for his diso
bedience. One soldier, tempted by a bunch of grapes,
must needs pluck it, and begin to eat it. He was
brought before the captain, who declared that the law
must be carried out and the thief must die. He was
taken out to die; and tho he knew his head would be cut
off, he went on eating the grapes as he walked along.
A comrade wondered that he should do this; but the
condemned man answered that no one ought to grudge
him his grapes, for they cost him dear enough.
Such are the bravados of sinners. The breasts of
wicked men are steeled rather than softened by a sense
of condemnation; but once let the Holy Spirit remove
the burden of their guilt, and they will be dissolved by
love. Free pardon is a great conqueror. The love of
Jesus soon makes men turn from sin with burning ha
tred. Forgiving love is a main instrument in transform
ing men from rebels into friends.
Cutting Sin's Traces.— I remember reading a famous
writer's description of a wretched cab-horse which was
old and worn out and yet kept on its regular round of
toil. They never took him out of harness for fear they
256 SPURGEON'S ILLUSTRATIVE ANECDOTES
should never be able to get his poor old carcass into it
again. He had been in the shafts for so many years
that they feared if they took him out of them he would
fall to pieces, and so they let him keep where he was
accustomed to be. Some men are just like that. They
have been in the shafts of sin so many years that they
fancy that if they were once to alter they would drop
to pieces. But it is not so, old friend. We are per
suaded better things of you, and things that accompany
salvation. The Lord will make a new creature of you.
When he cuts the traces and brings you out from be
tween those shafts which have so long held you, you will
not know yourself. When old things have passed away
you will be a wonder unto many.
The Wolves of Sin.— In the heyday of youth man finds
beaded bubbles about the brim of his cup of sin, the wine
moveth itself aright, it giveth its color in the cup, but
as he grows older and drinks deeper he comes nearer to
the dregs, and those dregs are as gall and wormwood.
An old man with his bones filled with the sin of his youth
is a dreadful sight to look upon; he is a curse to oth
ers, and a burden to himself. A man who has fifty
years of sin behind him is like a traveler pursued by
fifty howling wolves. Do you hear their deep bay as
they pursue the wretch? Do you see their eyes glaring
in the dark, and flaming like coals of fire? Such a man
is to be pitied indeed : whither shall he flee, or how shall
he face his pursuers?
Breaking the Cart Ropes of Sin.— We have seen pictures
of the Arabs dragging those great Ninevah bulls for Mr.
Leyard, hundreds of them tugging away; and I have
imagined how Pharaoh's subjects, the Egyptians, must
have sweated and smarted when they had to drag some
of the immense blocks of which his obelisks were com
posed,— thousands of men dragging one block of mason-
SIN 257
ry; and I seemed to have just such a load as that behind
me, and it would not stir. I prayed, and it would not
stir. I took to reading my Bible, but my load would
not stir. It seemed stuck in the mire, and no struggling
would move the awful weight. Deep ruts the wheels
were in. My load would not be moved, and I did not
know what to do. I cried to God in my agony, and I
thought I must die if I did not get delivered from my
monstrous cumber: but it would not stir. I have no
drag behind me now. Glory be to God, I am not bound
with a cart-rope to the old wagon. I have no hamper
behind me, and as I look back for the old ruts where
the cart stopped so long I cannot even see their traces.
The enormous weight is not there! It is clean gone!
There came One by who wore a crown of thorns : I knew
him by the marks in his hands and in his feet: and he
said, "Trust me, and I will set thee free." I trusted
him and the enormous weight behind me was gone. It
disappeared. As I was told, it sank into his sepulchre,
and it lies buried there, never to come out again. My
cart-rope snapped, my cords of vanity melted, I was out
of harness. Then I said, " The snare is broken, and
my soul hath escaped as a bird out of the snare of the
fowler. I will tell the story of my deliverance as long
as I live." I can say to-night,
" E'er since by faith I saw the stream
His flowing wounds supply,
Redeeming love has been my theme,
And shall be till I die."
Hiding Sin From God. — I can imagine a man in business
calling himself a Christian about to engage in a doubtful
transaction: how is he to discern the danger? Let him
ask the Lord Jesus Christ to come while he is doing it.
" Oh, dear no ; " cries one, " I had rather he should not
258 SPURGEON'S ILLUSTRATIVE ANECDOTES
come until that matter had been finished and forgotten."
Then be you sure that you are moving in the wrong
direction. Suppose you think of going to a certain place
of amusement about which you have a question, it is
easy to decide it thus:— When you take your seat your
first thing should be to bow your head and ask for a
blessing, and then say, "Lord, here I sit waiting for
thine appearing." " Oh," say you, " I should not want
the Lord to come there." Of course you would not.
Then do not go where you could not wish your Lord to
find you.
Sin a Poison of the Blood.— A man has a bad malady
upon him, and it breaks out in his flesh. He goes to a
quack, who gives him an ointment, which he applies
outwardly to heal the sore till the morbid appearances
vanish, and he congratulates himself on the cure, and
commends the charlatan for his skill. " What a capital
doctor he is, and how well my money was expended," he
says; "he has taken away all that eruption." By and
by the man is lying so grievously sick and ill that he
does not know what to do. " Oh," thinks he to himself,
" have I made a mistake ? " And when the true physi
cian comes he says, " What have been your symptoms ? "
He tells the tale of an eruption on his skin, and the
remedies he resorted to. " Ah," says the physician, " the
disease is driven inwards; you have taken the wrong
course; your present symptoms are fatal; you will die.
It was well that it should come out on your flesh, seeing
it lurked in your constitution. When you have a disease,
you had need lay the axe at the root, and not at the
branches. It is not the disfigurement of the skin that
should be seriously thought of as so alarming as the blood-
poisoning that caused it." Forthwith he begins to deal
with the real evil.
SIN 259
The Weight of Sin. — A very simple observation was once
the means of deciding a man. He was a mechanic, and
a man of a mathematical turn of mind. He had attended
a meeting. The meeting was held in an upper room and
on going below stairs, his attention was attracted by the
beam that had supported the people, and he said to him
self, " What a weight there must have been upon that ! "
Just at that very minute, into his mind there flashed,
" And what a weight there is resting upon you ! " How
that thought should have followed the other, I cannot
tell, but as he turned it over, it did seem to him that
he had a weight of sin enough to crush him; that he
could not bear up under such a weight; and that his
soul would come down in ruin like many a building
whose beams have not been strong enough; after en
during awhile in a condition more or less uncertain, it has
given away at last.
Sin Must be Given Up.-— When you land in France, there
stands the gendarme who wants to see what you are
carrying in that basket. If you attempt to push by
you will soon find yourself in custody. He must know
what is there; contraband goods cannot be taken in. So
at the gate of mercy — which is Christ — no man can
be saved if he desire to keep his sins. He must give up
every false way. " Oh," saith the drunkard, " I'd like
to get to heaven, but I must smuggle in this bottle some
how." " I would like to be a Christian," says another,
" I do not mind taking Dr. Watts's Hymns with me,
but I should like sometimes to sing a Bacchanalian song,
or a lightsome serenade." "Well," cries another, "I
enjoy myself on Sunday with God's people, but you must
not deny me the amusements of the world during the
week; I cannot give them up." "Well, then, you can
not enter, for Jesus Christ never saves us in our sins;
he saves us from our sins. "Doctor," says the fool,
260 SPURGEON'S ILLUSTRATIVE ANECDOTES
" make me well, but I'd like to keep my fever." " No,"
saith the doctor, "how can you be well while you keep
the fever?" How can a man be saved from his sins
while he clings to his sins? What is salvation but to
be delivered from sin? Sin-lovers may seek to be saved,
but they shall not be able. While they hug their sins
they cannot have Christ.
Sin Means Anarchy.— Sin, if we rightly consider it, is an
upsetting of the entire order of the universe. In your
family you feel as a father that nothing can go smoothly
unless there is a head whose discretion shall regulate all
the members. If your child should say, " Father, I am
determined as one of this family that whatever your
will is I will resist it, and whatever my will is I will
abide by it, and always carry it out if I can." What
a family that would be! How disorganized! What a
household! might we not say, what a hell upon earth!
There sails to-morrow a ship from the Thames under
command of a captain, wise and good, who understands
the seas; but he has scarcely reached the Nore before a
sailor tells him he shall not obey, that he does not in
tend either to reef a sail or to do anything aboard the
vessel that he is bidden. " Put the fellow in irons ! "
Everybody says it is right. Or a passenger coming up
from the saloon informs the captain that he does not
approve of his authority, and throughout the whole of
the voyage he intends to thwart him all he can. If
there is a boat within hail put that fellow on shore, and
do not be particular if he lands in a muddy place; but
get rid of him somehow. Everybody feels it must be.
You might as well scuttle the ship, cut holes in her sides,
as tolerate for a moment that the rightful central au
thority should be unshipped, or that every man should
determine to do what is right in his own eyes. The
happiness of everybody on board that vessel will depend
SIN 261
upon order being kept. If one man do this and another
do that, you might almost as well be shut up in a cage
with tigers as be in such a vessel. Now, look at this
world, it is but a floating ship on a larger scale, and
say, who ought to be captain here but he that made it?
His mighty hand alone can grasp that awful tiller. Who
can steer this gigantic vessel over the waves of Provi
dence — who but he ? And who am I, and, my hearer,
who are you, that you say, " I will ignore the Lord High
Admiral; I will oppose the Captain; I will rebel against
him?" Why, if all do as you do, what is to become of
the whole vessel, what of the whole world?
The Scar of Sin.— A boy once went into his father's or
chard, and there, in his rough play, he broke a little tree
which his father valued. But, rapidly putting it to
gether again, he managed to conceal the fact, for the
disunited parts of the tree took kindly to each other,
and the tree stood as before. It so happened that more
than forty years afterwards he went into that garden
after a storm had blown across it in the night, and he
found the tree had been riven in two, and it had snapped
precisely in the place where he had broken it when it was
but a sapling. So there may come a crash to your char
acter precisely in that place where you sinned when yet
a lad. Ah, how often the transgressions of our youth
remain within our bosoms. There lie the eggs of our
young sin, and they hatch when men come into riper
years. Don't be so sure that the lapse of time will con
sign your faults and follies to oblivion. You sow your
wild oats, sir; you have got to reap them. The time
that has intervened has only operated to make that evil
seed spring up, and you are so much the nearer to the
harvest. Time does not change the hue of sin in the
sight of God. If a man could live a thousand years,
• the sins of his first year would be as fresh in the memory
262 SPURGEON'S ILLUSTRATIVE ANECDOTES
of the Almighty as those of the last. Eternity itself
will never wash out a sin.
Recklessness of Sin.— Have you never heard the story of
Archaeus, the Grecian despot, who was going to a feast,
and on the way a messenger brought him a letter, and
seriously importuned him to read it. It contained tid
ings of a conspiracy that had been formed against him,
that he should be killed at the feast. He took the letter,
and put it into his pocket. In vain the messenger urged
that it was concerning serious matters. " Serious mat
ters to-morrow," said Archseus, " feasting to-night."
That night the dagger reached his heart while he had
about him the warning which, had he heeded it, would
have averted the peril. Alas ! too many men say, " Seri
ous things to-morrow ! " They have no misgiving, but
when their sport is over they will have alike the leisure
and the inclination for these weighty matters. Were it
not wiser, sirs, to let these grave affairs come first?
Breaking Off Sin.— I have heard of one who kept a tame
leopard in his house. It had been nursed from the time
it was a cub, and it gambolled about like a cat. But one
day, while the master was asleep, it licked his hand. As
it licked a place where the skin was thin and broken,
the blood began to flow. Then all the wild instincts of
the beast of the forest flashed from its furious eyes. The
man suddenly woke, and saw the situation. His end was
near — unless he should be quick and skilful enough to
destroy the animal. Do you think he paused or hesi
tated? No; a loaded pistol was within his reach; so he
stretched out his hand quietly, grasped it firmly, aimed
it steadily, fired it instantly, and the creature lay dead
at his feet. It had come to this ; that he must either kill
it, or it would kill him. It is so with you. Your sins
begin to draw blood from you already. Those stings of
conscience, that empty purse, those red eyes — all are
SIN 263
beginning to tell what sin can do. Not yet do you know
all its horror. Before the leopard springs upon you
and speedily tears you in pieces, God help you to give
it up!
Secret Sin. — It is vain to think that ye can conceal your
transgressions. Before high heaven, disguise is futile.
Yea, the darkness hideth not; the night shineth as the
day. I have known persons who have harbored a sin in
their breast until it has prayed upon their constitution.
They have been like the Spartan boy who had stolen a
fox, and was ashamed to have it known, so he kept it
within his garment, till it ate through his flesh, and he
fell dead. He suffered the fox to gnaw his heart ere
he would betray himself. There are those who have got
a sin, if not a lie in their right hand, yea, a lie in their
heart; and it is eating into their very life. They dare
not confess it. If they would confess it to their God,
and make restitution to those whom they have offended,
they would soon come to peace; but they vainly hope
that they can cover the sin, and hide it from the eyes
of God and man. He that covereth his sin in this fash
ion shall not prosper.
The Wages of Sin.—- A certain tyrant sent for one of his
subjects, and said to him, "What is your employment?"
He said, "I am a blacksmith." "Go home," said he,
" and make me a chain of such a length." He went
home; it occupied him several months, and he had no
wages all the while he was making the chain, only the
trouble and the pains of making it. Then he brought
it to the monarch, and he said, " Go and make it twice
as long." He gave him nothing to do it with, but sent
him away. Again he worked on, and made it twice as
long. He brought it up again, and the monarch said,
" Go and make it longer still." Each time he brought
it, there was nothing but the command to make it longer
264 SPURGEON'S ILLUSTRATIVE ANECDOTES
still. And when he brought it up at last, the monarch
said, " Take it, bind him hand and foot with it, and cast
him into a furnace of fire." There were his wages for
making the chain. Here is a meditation for you to
night, ye servants of the devil! Your master the devil
is telling you to make a chain. Some of you have been
fifty years welding the links of the chain; and he says,
" Go and make it longer still. Next Sunday morning
you will open that shop of yours, and put another link
on; next Saturday night you will be drunk, and put
another link on; next Monday you will do a dishonest
action, and so you will keep on making fresh links to
this chain; and when you have lived twenty more years,
the devil will say, " More links on still ! " And then,
at last, it will be, "Take him, and bind him hand and
foot, and cast him into a furnace of fire." "For the
wages of sin is death."
Insincere Conviction of Sin. — There was a monk who, on
a certain occasion, described himself as great a hypo
crite as Judas ; and a gentleman at once said, " I knew
it long ago; you are just the fellow I always thought."
When up jumped the monk, and said, " Don't be saying
such things as those of me ! " His humility was feigned,
not felt. Thus people may make such a general con
fession as this, " I am a great sinner," who would resist
any special charge brought home to their consciences,
however true. Say to such a one, "You are a rogue,"
and he replies, " No, Pm not a rogue." " What are you,
then? Are you a liar?" "Oh, no!" Are you a Sab
bath-breaker? "No; nothing of the kind." And so,
when you come to sift it, you find them sheltering them
selves under the general term sinner, not for the purpose
of making confession, but in order to evade it. This
result, as you will see, is very different from a real con
viction of sin.
SINNERS 265
SINNERS
Keep Out of Temptation.— You may have heard the story
— but it is so good it will bear repeating — of the lady
who advertised for a coachman and was waited upon by
three candidates for the situation. She put to the first
one this question: "I want a really good coachman to
drive my pair of horses, and, therefore, I ask you how
near you can drive to danger and yet be safe?"
" Well," he said, " I could drive very near indeed ; I
could go within a foot of a precipice, without fear of
any accident so long as I held the reins." She dismissed
him with the remark that he would not do. To the next
one who came she put the same question, " How near
could you drive to danger?" Being determined to get
the place, he said, " I could drive within a hair's breadth,
and yet skilfully avoid any mishap." " You will not
do," said she. When the third one came in, his mind
was cast in another mold, so on the question being put
to him, " How near could you drive to danger? " he said,
" Madam, I never tried. It has always been a rule with
me to drive as far from danger as I possibly can." The
lady engaged him at once. In like manner I believe that
the man who is careful to run no risks and to refrain
from all equivocal conduct, having the fear of God in
his heart, is most to be relied upon. If you are really
built upon the Rock of Ages, you may meet the ques
tion without dismay, " Will ye also go away ? " and you
can reply without presumption, " No, Lord, I cannot and
I will not leave thee; for to whom should I go, Thou
hast the words of eternal life."
The Greatest Loss of AH.— You do not see the loveliness
of Christ, yet "he is altogether lovely." Now, I will
not say one hard word, but I will tell you sorrowfully
what pitiable creatures you are. I hear enchanting
266 SPURGEON'S ILLUSTRATIVE ANECDOTES
music, which seems more a thing of heaven than of earth :
it is one of Handel's half-inspired oratorios. Yon
der sits a man, who says, " I hear nothing to commend."
He has not the power to perceive the linked sweetness,
the delicious harmonies of sounds. Do you blame him?
No, but you who have an ear for music, say, " How I
pity him : he misses half the joy of life ! " Here, again,
is a glorious landscape, hills and valleys, and flowing
rivers, expansive lakes and undulating meadows. I
bring to the point of view a friend, whom I would grat
ify, and I say to him, " is not that a charming scene ? "
Turning his head to me, he says, "I see nothing." I
perceive that he cannot enjoy what is so delightful to
me: he has some little sight, but he sees only what is
very near, and he is blind to all beyond. Now, do I
blame him ? Or if he proceed to argue with me, and say,
" You are very foolish to be so enthusiastic about a non
existent landscape, it is merely your excitement," shall
I argue with him? Shall I be angry with him? No,
but I shall shed a tear, and whisper to myself, " Great
are the losses of the blind." Now, you who have never
heard music in the name of Jesus, you are to be greatly
pitied, for your loss is heavy. You who never saw
beauty in Jesus, and who never will forever, you need
all our tears. It is hell enough not to love Christ! It
is the lowest abyss of Tartarus, and its fiercest flame,
not to be enamored of the Christ of God. There is no
heaven that is more heaven than to love Christ and to
be like him, and there is no hell that is more hell than
to be unlike Christ and not to want to be like him, but
even to be averse to the infinite perfections of the " al
together lovely."
Too=late! — Have you never heard of the Indian in his
boat upon one of the great rivers of America? Some
how his moorings had broken and his canoe was in the
SINNERS 267
power of the current. He was asleep, while his canoe
was being borne rapidly along by the stream. He was
sound asleep, and yet had good need to have been awake,
for there was a tremendous cataract not far ahead.
Persons on shore saw the canoe — saw that there was a
man in it asleep; but their vigilance was of no use to
the sleeper: it needed that he himself should be aware
of his peril. The canoe quickened its pace, for the
waters of the river grew more rapid as they approached
the cataract; persons on shore began to cry out, and
raise alarm on all sides, and at last the Indian was
aroused. He started up, and began to use his paddle,
but his strength was altogether insufficient for the strug
gle with the gigantic force of the waters around him.
He was seen to spring upright in the boat and disap
pear — himself and the boat — in the fall. He had per
ished, for he woke too late! Some persons on their dy
ing beds just wake up in time to see their danger, but
not escape from it: they are carried right over the cat
aract of judgment and wrath.
Hope for Sinners. — The sailors have been pumping the
vessel, the leaks are gaining, she is going down, the cap
tain is persuaded she must be a wreck. Depressed by
such evil tidings, the men refuse to work; and since the
boats are all stove in and they cannot make a raft, they
sit down in despair. Presently the captain has better
news for them. " She will float," he says ; " the wind
is abating too, the pumps tell upon the water, the leak
can be reached yet." See how they work; with what
cheery courage they toil on, because there is hope ! Soul,
there is hope! There is hope! THERE is HOPE! To the
harlot, to the thief, to the drunkard.
The Sinner Seeing Double.— Do not, I pray you, play
with time any longer. Say not " There is time enough ; "
for the wise man knows that time enough is little enough.
268 SPURGEON'S ILLUSTRATIVE ANECDOTES
Be not like the foolish drunkard who, staggering home
one night, saw his candle lit for him. " Two candles ! "
said he, for his drunkenness made him see double, " I
will blow out one," and as he blew it out, in a moment
he was in the dark. Many a man sees double through
the drunkenness of sin — he thinks that he has one life
to sow his wild oats in, and then the last part of life in
which to turn to God; so, like a fool, he blows out the
only candle that he has, and in the dark he will have to
lie down forever. Haste thee, traveller, thou hast but
one sun, and when that sets, thou wilt never reach thy
home. God help thee to make haste now!
Deceiving One's Own Soul. — Whenever you have heard an
earnest, powerful sermon, you have gone home and la
bored to get rid of it. A tear has stolen down your
cheek now and then, and you have despised yourself for
it. " Oh ! " you say, " it is not manly for me to think
of these things." There have been a few twitches at
times which you could not help, but the moment after
you have your heart like a flint, impenetrably hard and
stony. Well, sir, I will give you a picture of yourself.
There is a foolish farmer yonder in his house. It is the
dead of night : the burglars are breaking in — men who
will neither spare his life nor his treasure. There is a
dog down below, chained in the yard; it barks and barks,
and howls again. " I cannot be quiet," says the farmer,
"my dog makes too much noise." Another howl, and
yet another. He creeps out of bed, gets his loaded gun,
opens the window, fires it, and kills the dog. " Ah ! it is
all right now," he mutters; he goes to bed, lies down, and
quietly rests. " No hurt will come," he says, " now ; for
I have made that dog quiet." Ah! but would that he
could have listened to the warning of the faithful crea
ture. Ere long he shall feel the knife, and rue his fatal
folly. So you, when God is warning you — when your
SINNERS 269
faithful conscience is doing- its best to save you — you
try to kill your only friend, while Satan and Sin are
stealing up to the bedside of your slothfulness, ready to
destroy your soul forever. What should we think of
the sailor at sea, who should seek to kill all the stormy
petrels, that there might be an end to all storms? Would
you not say, " Poor foolish man ! why those birds are
sent by a kind providence to warn him of the tempest.
Why needs he injure them? They cause not the tumult;
it is the raging sea." So it is not your conscience that
is guilty of the disturbance in your heart, it is your sin ;
and your conscience, acting true to its character, as
God's index in your soul, tells you that all is wrong.
Oh, that ye would arise, and take the warning, and fly
to Jesus while the hour of mercy lasts.
Heathen in Cities. — In London, the city missionaries will
bear witness that while they can sometimes get at the
wives, yet there are thousands of husbands, who are
necessarily away at the time of the missionary's visit,
who have not a word of rebuke, or exhortation, or invi
tation, or encouragement ever sounding in their ears at
all, from the day of their birth to the day of their death ;
and they might, for all practical purposes, as well have
been born in the centre of Africa as in the city of Lon
don; for they are without God, without hope,— aliens
from the commonwealth of Isreal ; far off, not by wicked
works only, but by dense ignorance of God.
A Hospital for Sinners.— We know of a place in England,
still existing, where there is a dole of bread served to
every passer-by who chooses to ask for it. Whoever
he may be, he has but to knock at the door of St. Cross
Hospital, and there is the dole of bread for him. Jesus
Christ so loveth sinners that he has built a St. Cross
Hospital, so that, whenever a sinner is hungry, he has
but to knock and have his wants supplied. Nay, he has
270 SPURGEON'S ILLUSTRATIVE ANECDOTES
done better; he has attached to this hospital of the cross
a bath; and whenever a soul is black and filthy, it has
but to go there and be washed. The fountain is always
full, always efficacious. There is no sinner who ever
went into it and found it, could not wash away his
stains. Sins which were scarlet and crimson have all
disappeared, and the sinner has been whiter than snow.
As if this were not enough, there is attached to this hos
pital of the cross a wardrobe; and a sinner, making
application simply as a sinner, with nothing in his hand,
but being just empty and naked, he may come and be
clothed from head to foot. And if he wishes to be a
soldier, he may not merely have an under-garment, but
he may have armor which shall cover him from the sole
of his foot to the crown of his head. Nay, if he wants
a sword he shall have that given to him, and a shield
too. There is nothing that his heart can desire, that is
good for him, which he shall not receive. He shall have
spending-money so long as he lives, and he shall have an
eternal heritage of glorious treasure when he enters into
the joy of his Lord.
Secret Sinners.— There is the table set for secret sinners,
and here the old rule is observed. At that table, in a
room well darkened, I see a young man sitting to-day,
and Satan is the servitor, stepping in so noiselessly, that
no one would hear him. He brings in the first cup —
and 0 how sweet it is! It is the cup of secret sin.
" Stolen waters are sweet, and bread eaten in secret is
pleasant." How sweet that morsel, eaten all alone!
Was there ever one that rolled so delicately under the
tongue? That is the first; after that, he brings in an
other — the wine of an unquiet conscience. The man's
eyes are opened. He says, "What have I done? What
have I been doing? Ah," cries this Achan, "the first
cup you brought me, I saw sparkling in that a wedge of
SINNERS 271
gold, and a goodly Babylonish garment; and I thought,
' 0, I must have that ; ' but now my thought is, What
shall I do to hide this, where shall I put it? I must
dig. Ay, I must dig deep as hell before I shall hide it,
for sure enough it will be discovered."
The grim governor of the feast is bringing in a mas
sive bowl, filled with a black mixture. The secret sin
ner drinks, and is confounded; he fears his sin will find
him out. He has no peace, no happiness, he is full of
uneasy fear; he is afraid that he shall be detected. He
dreams at night that there is some one after him; there
is a voice whispering in his ear, and telling him, " I
know all about it; I will tell it." He thinks, perhaps,
that the sin which he has committed in secret will break
out to his friends; the father will know it, the mother
will know it. Ay, it may be even the physician will
tell the tale, and blab out the wretched secret. For
such a man there is no rest. He is always in dread of
arrest.
A Houseless Soul. — Have you ever seen a poor girl at
midnight sitting down on a doorstep crying? Somebody
passes by, and says, " Why do you sit here ? " "I have
no house, sir. I have no home." "Where is your fa
ther?" "My father's dead, sir." "Where is your
mother?" "I have no mother, sir." "Have you no
friends?" "No friends at all." Have you no house?"
"No; I have none. I am houseless." And she shivers
in the chill air, and gathers her poor ragged shawl
around her, and cries again, " I have no house — I have
no home." Would you not pity her? Would you blame
her for her tears ? Ah ! there are some of you that have
houseless souls here this morning. It is something to
have a houseless body ; but to think of a houseless soul !
Methinks I see you in eternity sitting on the door-step
of heaven. An angel says, "What! have you no house
27« SPURGEON'S ILLUSTRATIVE ANECDOTES
to live in?" "No house," says the poor soul. "Hare
you no father? " " No; God is not my father; and there
is none beside him." " Have you no mother ? " " No ;
the church is not my mother; I never sought her ways,
nor loved Jesus. I have neither father nor mother."
"Have you no house, then?" "No; I am a houseless
soul."
Transient Feeling.— I know there are some of you that
can scarcely keep your seats at the thought of your in
iquities; and you have almost vowed, some of you, that
this day you will seek God, and the first thing you will
do, will be to climb to your chamber, and shut the door,
and seek the Lord. Ah, but I remember a story of one,
who remarked to a minister, what a wonderful thing it
was to see so many people weeping. " Nay," said he,
" I will tell you something more wonderful still, that
so many will forget all they wept about when they get
outside the door." And you will do this. Still, when
you have done it, you will recollect that you have not been
without the strivings of God's Spirit.
True Religion Only Safeguard of Character.— A great
number of those who perish were once just the very peo
ple whom, if natural disposition had any thing to do
with it, we should have expected to see in heaven. Why,
there is one here who in his youth was a child of many
follies. Often did his mother weep over him, and cry
and groan over her son's wanderings; for what with a
fierce high spirit that could brook neither bit nor bridle,
what with perpetual rebellions and ebullitions of hot
anger, she said, " My son, my son, what wilt thou be in
thy riper years? Surely thou wilt dash in pieces law
and order, and be a disgrace to thy father's name." He
grew up; in youth he was wild and wanton, but, wonder
of wonders, on a sudden he became a new man, changed,
altogether changed; no more like what he was before
SINNERS 273
than angels are like lost spirits. He sat at her feet, he
cheered her heart, and the lost, fiery one became gentle,
mild, humble as a little child, and obedient to God's com
mandments. You say, wonder of wonders! But there
is another here. He was a fair youth : when but a child
he talked of Jesus; often when his mother had him on
her knee he asked her questions about heaven; he was
a prodigy, a wonder of piety in his youth. As he grew
up, the tear rolled down his cheek under any sermon;
he could scarcely bear to hear of death without a sigh;
sometimes his mother caught him, as she thought, in
prayer alone. And what is he now? He has just this
very morning come from sin; he has become the de
bauched desperate villain, has gone far into all manner
of wickedness and lust, and sin, and has become more
damnably corrupt than other men could have made him;
only his own evil spirit, once confined, has now developed
itself; he has learned to play the lion in his manhood,
as once he played the fox in his youth.
The Point of View. — Some men seem to be born with two
characters. I remarked when in the library at Trinity
College, Cambridge, a very fine statue of Lord Byron.
The librarian said to me, " Stand here, sir." I looked,
and I said, " what a fine intellectual countenance ! What
a grand genius he was ! " " Come here," he said, " to
the other side." Ah! what a demon! There stands the
man that could defy the deity." He seemed to have such
a scowl and such a dreadful leer in his face; even as Mil
ton would have painted Satan when he said — " Better
to reign in hell than to serve in heaven." I turned away
and said to the librarian, " Do you think the artist de
signed this ? " " Yes," he said, " he wished to picture
the two characters — the great, the grand, the almost
superhuman genius that he possessed, and yet the enor
mous mass of sin that was in his soul."
274 SPURGEON'S ILLUSTRATIVE ANECDOTES
Three Fools. — I will show you three fools. One is yon
der soldier, who has been wounded on the field of battle,
grievously wounded, well nigh unto death; the surgeon
is by his side, and the soldier asks him a question. Lis
ten, and judge of his folly. What question does he ask*
Does he raise his eyes with eager anxiety and inquire if
the wound be mortal, if the practitioner's skill can sug
gest the means of healing, or if the remedies are within
reach and the medicine at hand? No, nothing of the
sort ; strange to tell, he asks, " Can you inform me with
what sword I was wounded, and by what Russian I have
been thus grievously mauled? I want," he adds, "to
learn every minute particular respecting the origin of my
wound." The man is delirious or his head is affected.
Surely such questions at such a time are proof enough
that he is bereft of his senses.
There is another fool. The storm is raging, the ship
is flying impetuous before the gale, the dark scud moves
swiftly over head, the masts are creaking, the sails are
rent to rags, and still the gathering tempest grows more
fierce. Where is the captain? Is he busily engaged on
the deck, is he manfully facing the danger, and skill
fully suggesting means to avert it? No, sir, he has re
tired to his cabin, and there with studious thoughts and
crazy fancies he is speculating on the place where this
storm took its rise. " It is mysterious, this wind ; no one
ever yet," he says, " has been able to discover it." And,
so reckless of the vessel, the lives of the passengers, and
his own life, he is careful only to solve his curious ques
tions. The man is mad, sir; take the rudder from his
hand; he is clean gone mad! If he should ever run on
shore, shut him up as a hopeless lunatic.
The third fool I shall doubtless find among yourselves.
You are sick and wounded with sin, you are in the storm
and hurricane of Almighty vengeance, and yet the
SINNERS 275
question which you would ask of me, this morning, would
be, " Sir, what is the origin of evil ? " You are mad, sir,
spiritually mad.
Serving Against Light. — The late lamented murder of
Williams at Erromanga, was brought about by the evil
doings of a trader who had gone to the island, and who
was also the son of a missionary. He had become reck
less in his habits, and treated the islanders with such
barbarity and cruelty, that they revenged his conduct
upon the next white man who put his foot on their shore ;
and the beloved Williams, one of the last of the martyrs,
died a victim of the guilt of those who had gone before
him. The worst of men are those who, having much light,
still run astray.
The Lost. — Now I will tell you the people whom Christ
will save — they are those who are lost to themselves.
Just imagine a ship at sea passing through a storm : the
ship leaks, and the captain tells the passengers he fears
they are lost. If they are far away from shore, and have
sprung a leak, they pump with all their might as long
as they have any strength remaining; they seek to keep
down the devouring element; they still think that they
are not quite lost while they have the power to use the
pumps. At last they see the ship cannot be saved; they
give it up for lost, and leap into the boats. The boats
are floating for many a day, full of men who have but
little food to eat, " They are lost," we say, " lost out at
sea." But they do not think so; they still cherish a
hope that perhaps some stray ship may pass that way
and pick them up. There is a ship in the horizon; they
strain their eyes to look at her; they lift each other up;
they wave a flag ; they rend their garments to make some
thing which shall attract attention; but she passed away;
black night comes, and they are forgotten. At length
the very last mouthful of food has been consumed;
276 SPURGEON'S ILLUSTRATIVE ANECDOTES
strength fails them, and they lay down their oars in the
boat, and lay themselves down to die. You can imagine
then how well they understand the awful meaning of
the term —" lost." As long as they had any strength
left they felt they were not lost; as long as they could
see a sail they felt there was yet hope; while there was
yet a mouldy biscuit left, or a drop of water, they did
not give up all for lost. Now the biscuit is gone, and
the water is gone; now strength is departed, and the
oar lies still: they lie down to die by each other's side,
mere skeletons; things that should have been dead days
ago, if they had died when all enjoyment of life had
ceased. Now they know, I say, what it is to be lost,
and across the shoreless waters they seem to hear their
death-knell pealing forth that awful word, Lost! lost!
lost! Now, in a spiritual sense, these are the people
Christ came to save.
The Sinner's Emancipation.— In the bad old times in the
south a free negro was forced to carry his papers about
with him, but in that blessed day when the Jubilee trum
pet sounded, and every African throughout the States
was free, I can hardly imagine some little squire or
country judge saying to the emancipated negro, " Sam,
I will make out papers for you, and for your consola
tion I will put my name ' Jeremiah Stiggins ' at the bot
tom." Why, the emancipated negro would have said,
" I have seen the proclamation which has the name Ab
raham Lincoln, the President of the United States, at
its foot, and I do not care a button for your name or
anybody else's." Having believed in the Lord Jesus, I
have salvation upon the authority of the Word of God,
and on the Holy Ghost's authority I know that there is
therefore now no condemnation to them that are in Christ
Jesus, and therefore I would not thank an angel for
his oath if he tendered it in confirmation.
SINNERS 277
God's Message Through Mothers.— The first messenger
that some of us had was that fond woman, upon whose
breast in infancy we hung. We should never breathe the
word " mother " without grateful emotions. How can
we forget that tearful eye when she warned us to es
cape from the wrath to come? We thought her lips
right eloquent; others might not think so, but they cer
tainly were eloquent to us. How can we ever forget
when she bowed her knee, and with her arms about our
neck, prayed for us : " Oh ! that my son might live be
fore Thee." Nor can her frown be effaced from our
memory, that solemn, loving frown when she rebuked
our budding iniquities; and her smiles have never faded
from our recollection, the beaming of her countenance
when she rejoiced to see some good thing in us toward
the Lord God of Israel. Mothers often become potent
messengers from God, and I think each Christian mother
should ask herself in secret whether the Lord hath not
a message to give through her to her sons and to her
daughters. And did you despise that messenger? Had
you the hardihood to reject God when he spoke in this
way, when he selected one so near and so dear, who could
speak so well, and could talk to that tender instinct,
which respects and hallows a mother's love?
Be Sure of the Foundation.— Certain parts of the South
of France are marvellously like Palestine, and perhaps
at the present moment they are more like what the Holy
Land was in Christ's day than the Holy Land now is.
When I reached Cannes last year I found that there had
been a flood in the town. This flood did not come by
reason of a river being swollen, but through a deluge
of rain. A waterspout seems to have burst upon the
hill-side, tearing up earth, and rocks, and stones, and
then huriying down to the sea. It rushed across the
railway station and poured down the street which led
278 SPURGEON'S ILLUSTRATIVE ANECDOTES
to it, drowning several persons in its progress. When I
was there a large hotel — I should think five stories
high — was shored up with timber, and was evidently
doomed; for when this stream rushed down the narrow
street it undermined the lower courses of the building,
and as there were no foundations at all able to bear
such a test the whole erection was rendered unsafe. The
Savior had some such case in his mind's eye. A torrent
of water would come tearing down the side of the moun
tain, and if a house was built on the mere earth, it
would be carried away directly, but if it were fastened
into the rock so that it became part and parcel of it,
then the flood might rush all around it, but it would
not shake the walls. Beloved builder of a house for
your soul, your house is so situated fhat one of these
days there must come great pressure upon it. " How do
you know?" Well, I know that the house wherein my
soul lives is pitched just where winds blow, and waves
rise, and storms beat. Where is yours? Do you live
in a snug corner? Yes, but one of these times you will
find that the snug corner will be no more shielded than
the open riverside; for God so orders providence that
every man has his test sooner or later. It may be that
you think yourself past temptation, but the idea is a de
lusion, as time will show. Perhaps from the very fact
that you seem quite out of the way, a peculiar tempta
tion may befall you. Therefore, I do pray you, because
of the exposed condition of your life's building, build
upon a good foundation.
Foolish Objections.— You see a man put into the con
demned cell at Newgate, and you go in and tell him that
Her Majesty presents him with a free pardon. I war
rant you he will not put his hand to his brow, and say,
" Well, but I think there is this or that objection to my
accepting it." "No," thinks he, " if there is any ob-
SINNERS 279
jeetion, let those find it out that like; it is no business of
mine." And so with the soul that is bidden to come to
Christ; I say, let it come, objections or no objections,
and if there be objections, let somebody else find them
out, but as for thee, poor sinner, don't cover thy face
from Jesus, but come as thou art, just as thou art, and
say, " Here I am, my Savior : if thou canst save — and
I believe thou canst — save me. At any rate, if I per
ish, I will perish trusting in thee."
Christ Drawing the Sinner.— There are times with men,
before conversion, when a sort of softness steals over
them, when they feel as if they could not hold out much
longer against appeals so reasonable and so gracious. A
mother's prayers come up, perhaps her dying words are
heard again; or the death of a little child touches the
parent's heart as nothing else has done. The man is
under holy influences, he knows not how; there are an
gels in the air around him, tho there are devils in the
heart within him. The man cannot be at peace in sin;
he is restless till he finds rest in Jesus. It is the Lord
drawing all the while: and after the Lord has appeared
to us we see it to be so.
The Hypocrite.— Look at the hypocrite: he is afraid of
being found out. He has to do everything most primly
and demurely, lest he should be suspected. If you paint
your face, you must take care neither to cry nor lough,
lest you crack the enamel. If you wear shoddy clothing,
you must not run or jump, for your garments might
split. Accidents must be guarded against when you deal
with shams. A hypocrite will censure you very severely
for having smiled just now; and he will condemn me
outright for being so wicked as to make you smile on a
Sunday. Poor soul, he must keep up his propriety, for
it is all he has. In these times of bad trade many who
are ready to fail are afraid to lower their expenditure
*8o SPURGEON'S ILLUSTRATIVE ANECDOTES
for fear their poverty should be suspected, and eo they
keep up a good appearance to stave off bankruptcy as
long as they may. If they were solvent they would not
be so fearful. If your conscience condemn you not, then
you enjoy a blessed ease of spirit, because the truth is
in you.
A Note of Warning.— A buoy off the Mumbles in South
Wales bears a bell which is meant to warn mariners of
a dangerous rock. This bell is quiet enough in ordinary
weather; but when the winds are out, and the great
waves rush in towards the shore, its solemn tones are
heard for miles around as it swings to and fro in the
hands of the sea. I believe there are true men who are
silent when everything is calm, who will be forced to
speak when the wild winds are out. Permit me to assure
you that a storm is raging now, and it is growing worse
and worse. If I rightly read the signs of the times, it
is meet that every bell should ring out its warning note
lest souls be lost upon the rocks of error.
The Sinner's Down Hill.— In the town where I was
brought up there is a very steep hill. You could scarcely
get out of the town without going down a hill, but one
is specially precipitous, and I remember once hearing
a cry in the streets, for a huge wagon had rolled over
the horses that were going down the hill with it. The
load had crushed the creatures that were supposed to
draw it. There comes a time with a man when it is not
so much he that consumes the drink as the drink that
consumes him; he is drowned in his cups, sucked down
by that which he himself sucked in. A man was vo
racious, perhaps, in food, and at last his gluttony swal
lowed him; at one grim morsel he went down the throat
of the old dragon of selfish greed. Or the man was
lustful, and at last his vice devoured him. It is an
awful thing when it is not the man that follows the
SINNERS a8i
devil, but the devil that drives the man before him as
iho he were his laden ass. The man's worst self,
that had been kept in the rear and put under restraint,
at last gets up and comes to the front, and the better
self, if ever he had such, is dragged on an unwilling
captive at the chariot wheels of its destroyer.
The Folly of the Caviller. — To be always using the sieve
but never to be using the mill is starving work : to be al
ways searching after adulterations, but never to drink
of the genuine milk, is a foolish habit. Caviling is a
curse, and carping is a crime. Escape from it while yet
it is but as a cord of vanity, lest it come to be a cart-
rope which shall bind you fast.
Ingratitude of the Sinner.— The Lord saith, "Hear, O
heavens, and give ear, O earth: I have nourished and
brought up children, and they have rebelled against me.
The ox knoweth his owner, and the ass his master's crib:
but these my creatures do not know, my favored ones
do not consider." Why, you have no such forbearance
with others as God has had with you. You would not
keep a dog if it never followed at your heel, but snarled
at you: you would not even keep a potter's vessel if it
held no water, and was of no service to you; you would
break it in pieces, and throw it on the dunghill. As for
yourself, you are fearfully and wonderfully made, both
as to your body and as to your soul, and yet you have
been of no service to your Maker, nor even thought of
being of service to him. Still, he has spared you all these
years, and it has never occurred to you that there has
been any wonderful forbearance in it. Assuredly, O
man, thou despisest the long-suffering of thy God.
The Foolish Builder.— The foolish builder had nothing to
resist outward circumstances. On summer days his house
was a favorite resort, and was considered to be quite as
good as his neighbor's in all respects. Frequently he
282 SPURGEON'S ILLUSTRATIVE ANECDOTES
rubbed his hands and said, " I do not see but what my
house is quite as good as his, and perhaps a little bet
ter: the fact is, I had a few pounds to spare which I
did not bury in the ground as he did, and with it I have
bought many a little ornament, so that rny habitation has
a finer look than his building." So it seemed; but when
the torrent came raging down the mountain side, his
building, having nothing wherewith to resist the violence
of the flood, fell down at once, and not a trace of it re
mained, when the storm had ceased. Thus do men fail
because they offer no resistance to forces which drive
them into sin; the great current of evil finds in them
victims, and not opponents.
The Sinner's Refuge.— A man has by accident killed his
fellow-man. The next of kin to the murdered man will
be sure to kill the man-slayer out of revenge, if he can get
at him. Therefore the poor homicide takes flight as quick
ly as he can towards the city of refuge. How his heart
beats, how his footsteps bound, how he flies with all his
might. There is a handpost with the word " Refuge "
upon it, and on he continues his way. But, presently,
while he is running, he turns his head, and finds that
the avenger of blood is after him. He sees that he is
gaining upon him, he feels that he will probably over
take him. Oh ! how he picks his steps lest he should trip
against a stone, how he skims the ground, swift as a
doe. He runs until he can see the city gates. "That
is the fair CITY OF REFUGE," saith he. But, he does not
rest then, for a sight of the city will not secure him, so
he quickens his speed, as if he would outstrip the wind,
till he shoots through the archway, and he is in the broad
street of the city. Now he stops. Now he breathes.
Now he wipes the hot sweat from his brow. a Now I am
safe," saith he, "for no avenger of blood dares cross
that threshold; he that once escapes here is delivered."
SINNERS 283
So with the sinner when sin pursues him, when he dis
covers that he has offended God. He hears the furious
coursers of divine vengeance coming on swiftly behind
him, and his conscience flies, and his soul speeds towards
the cross. He gets a little hope. He hears of a Savior;
but that is not enough. He will never rest, he will never
say he is at peace, until he has passed the gate of faith,
and can say, " Now I do believe that Jesus died for me."
The Sinner's Folly.— What shall it profit any man what
fortune soever he may have amassed, if he lose his soul?
Think ye that riches possessed in this world will procure
any respect in the nether rgions? I have heard that in
the old Fleet Prison the swell who was put in jail for
ten thousand pounds thought himself a gentleman in
comparison with those common fellows who were put in
for some paltry debt of twenty or five-and-twenty
pounds. There are no such distinctions in hell. You
who can boast your talents of gold and talents of silver,
if ye are cast away, shall be as complete wrecks as those
who never had doit or stiver, but lived and died in pri
vation and poverty.
The Folly of Sinners.— A man has fallen overboard from
a ship, and when he is drowning, some sailor throws him
a rope, and there it is. Well, he says, in the first place,
" I do not like that rope ; I don't think that rope was
made at the best manufactory; there is some tar on it
too, I do not like it; and in the next place, I do not
like that sailor that threw the rope over, I am sure he
is not a kind-hearted man, I do not like the look of him
at all ; " and then comes a gurgle and a groan, and
down he is in the bottom of the sea; and when he was
drowned, they said, that it served him right, if he would
not lay hold of the rope, but would be making such
foolish and absurd objections, when it was a matter of
life and death. Then on his own head be his blood.
*84 SPURGEON'S ILLUSTRATIVE ANECDOTES
The Doom of the Impenitent.— In rain did Noah warn
them that the waters would surely come; he seemed unto
them as one that mocked, and they laughed at him. Even
so, when I preached of the resurrection to you this morn
ing, some of you may have mocked, and thought that I
was but pursuing a wild reverie of imagination. Ah!
but how different was their tune, when the rains fell,
when "the fountains of the great deep were broken
up!" They doubtless changed their notes, when the
clouds began to empty themselves in fury, when the very
earth did crack, and its bowels were dissolved, and the
mighty fluid gushed up to devour them all. Did they
think Noah was a fool, when the last man stood on the
last mountain-top, and cried in vain for help? I saw
some time ago, a master-picture, which I think time will
never erase from my memory. It was a picture of a
man who had been climbing up to the top of the last
mountain, and the floods were coming around him. He
had his old father on his back; his wife was clasping
him round his waist, and he had one arm round her; she
held one child at her breast, and with her other hand she
grasped another. In the picture was represented one
child just letting go, the wife dropping, and the father
clinging to a tree on the top of the hill; the branches
were breaking, and it was being torn up by the roots.
Such a scene of agony I never saw depicted before; yet
such a scene was likely enough to have been real when the
waters entirely covered the earth. They had climbed up
to the top of the last hill ; and now they sank. They had
climbed up to the top of the last hill; and now they
sank. False hopes gave place to fell despair. And so
it will be with you, ye careless ones, unless ye take shelter
in the ark.
SORROWS a*s
SORROWS
Sorrow Changed to Song. — There was a woman whose
life was exceedingly sorrowful. She was an Eastern
wife, and her husband had been foolish enough to have
a second mistress in the house. The woman of whom we
speak, a holy woman, a woman of refined and delicate
mind, a poetess, indeed, of no mean order — this poor
woman, having no children, was the constant butt of her
rival, whose sneering spiteful remarks chaffed and chafed
her.
Her adversary, it is said, " vexed her sore to make her
afraid." Tho her husband was exceedingly kind to her,
yet as with a sword that cut her bones did she go con
tinually. She was a woman of a sorrowful spirit, her
spirit being broken. Still, " she feared the Lord ex
ceedingly ," and she went up to God's house, and it was
in God's house that she received, what was to her, per
haps, provided we take all the circumstances into consid
eration, the greatest blow of her life.
If it was from her rival that she received the harshest
word, it was from the High Priest of God that she re
ceived this hardest blow. As she stood there praying,
using no vocal sound, but her lips moving, the High
Priest — an easy soul, who had brought his own family
to ruin by his easiness —little knowing her grief, told her
that she was drunken. A woman to whom the thought
of such sin would have been bitter as gall, it must have
smitten her as with the chill blast of death, that God's
priest had said she was drunken.
But, as you will all remember, the Lord did not break
the leaf that was driven to and fro. To her there came
a comfortable promise. Ere long that woman stood there
to sing.
a86 SPURGEON'S ILLUSTRATIVE ANECDOTES
SOUL WINNING
Sowing and Reaping. — Sometimes we lie passive, like the
ploughed fields, and then our divine Sower casts into us
the living seed; but soon other days arrive, when we are
active, and yield unto God the results of his grace ex
perienced in former days. It ought to be so. To you,
beloved workers in the Mission-hall, or the Sunday-school,
there will be a time of sowing; not much may be ac
complished, tho a great deal of effort may be put
forth. To me in preaching there are times for sowing,
and nothing else but sowing; few seem to be the green
blades which spring up around me. Perhaps a year
may intervene before the worker shall see any reward for
his toil : " The husbandman waiteth for the precious fruits
of the earth." The missionary upon his district, the
Bible-woman on her round, may see no manifest effect
produced by daily teaching; but harvest and seedtime
are tied together in a sure knot. " He that goeth forth
and weepeth, bearing precious seed, shall doubtless come
again with rejoicing, bringing his sheaves with him."
Brethren, believe that, and be of good cheer. "Your
labor is not in vain in the Lord."
Won by His Parents' Love.— I have heard of a young
man who had grown up and left the parental roof, and
through evil influences, had been enticed into holding skep
tical views. His father and mother were both earnest
Christians, and it almost broke their hearts to see their
son so opposed to the Redeemer. On one occasion they
induced him to go with them to hear a celebrated min
ister. He accompanied them simply to please them, and
for no higher motive. The sermon happened to be upon
the glories of heaven. It was a very extraordinary ser
mon, and was calculated to make every Christian in the
SOUL WINNING 287
audience to leap for joy. The young man was much
gratified with the eloquence of the preacher, but nothing
more; he gave him credit for superior oratorical ability,
and was interested in the sermon, but felt none of its
power. He chanced to look at his father and mother
during the discourse, and was surprised to see them
weeping. He could not imagine why they, being Chris
tian people, should sit and weep under a sermon which
was most jubilant in its strain. When he reached hime,
he said, "Father, we have had a capital sermon, but I
could not understand what could make you sit there and
cry, and my mother too f " His father said, " My dear
son, I certainly had no reason to weep concerning my
self, nor your mother, but I could not help thinking all
through the sermon about you, for alas, I have no hope
that you will be a partaker i:i the bright joys which
await the righteous. It breaks my heart to think that
you will be shut out of heaven." His mother said, " The
very same thoughts crossed my mind, and the more the
preacher spoke of the joys of the saved, the more I sor
rowed for my dear boy that he should never know what
they were." That touched the young man's heart, led
him to seek his father's God, and before long he was at
the same communion table, rejoicing in the God and Sa
vior whom his parents worshipped. The travail comes
before the bringing forth; the earnest anxiety, the deep
emotion within, precede our being made the instrumnts
of the salvation of others.
Fitting Ourselves to Save Others.— A man is drowning.
I am on London Bridge. If I spring from the parapet
and can swim, I can save him; but suppose I cannot
swim, can I render any service by leaping into sudden
and certain death with the sinking man? I am disqual
ified from helping him till I have the ability to do so.
There is a school over yonder. Well, the first inquiry
288 SPURGEON'S ILLUSTRATIVE ANECDOTES
of him who is to be the master must be, "Do I know
myself that which I profess to teach?" Do you call
that inquiry selfish? Surely it is a most unselfish sel
fishness, grounded upon common sense. Indeed, the man
who is not so selfish as to ask himself, "Am I qualified
to act as a teacher?" would be guilty of gross selfishness
in putting himself into an office which he was not qual
ified to fill. I will suppose an illiterate person going
into the school, and saying, " I will be master here and
take the pay," and yet he cannot teach the children to
read or write. Would he not be very selfish in not see
ing to his own fitness? But surely it is not selfishness
that would make a man stand back and say, " No, I
must first go to school myself, otherwise it is but a mockery
of the children for me to attempt to teach them any
thing." This is no selfishness, then, when looked at
aright, which makes us see to our own salvation, for it is
the basis from which we operate for the good of others.
Saved Souls Most Useful. — A man with no sensibility or
compassion for other men's souls, may accidentally be
the means of a conversion; the good word which he ut
ters will not cease to be good because the speaker had
no right to declare God's statutes. The bread and meat
which were brought to Elijah were not less nourishing
because the ravens brought them, but the ravens remained
ravens still. A hard-hearted man may say a good thing
which God will bless, but, as a rule, those who bring
souls to Christ are those who first of all have felt an
agony of desire that souls should be saved.
The Lost Redeemed.— Let me tell you a story of what
once happened to Mr. Vanderkist, a city missionary, who
toils all night long to do good in that great work. There
had been a drunken broil in the street; he stepped be
tween the men to part them, and said something to a
woman who stood there concerning how dreadful a thing
SOUL WINNING 389
it was that men should thus be intemperate. She walked
with him a little way, and he with her, and she began
to tell him such a tale of woe and sin too, how she had
been lured away from her parents' home in Somerset
shire, and had been brought up here to her soul's eternal
hurt. He took her home with him, and taught her the
fear and love of Christ; and what was the first thing
she did, when she returned to the paths of godliness, and
found Christ to be the sinner's Savior? She said, "Now
I must go home to my friends." Her friends were writ
ten to; they came to meet her at the station at Bristol,
and you can hardly conceive what a happy meeting it
was. The father and mother had lost their daughter;
they had never heard from her; and there she was,
brought back by the agency of this Institution, and re
stored to the bosom of her family.
Christ Rejoices When the Christian Saves a Soul.— The
Lord Jesus must take great pleasure in the attempts of
his servants to seek and to save souls : for they are learn
ing to be shepherds like himself. When our King, Ed
ward III., heard that the Black Prince was having a
hard battle with the French, he smiled to think that his
son was in a place where he could show his valor. When
he was entreated to send off reinforcements, he refused;
for he wished his son to have the undivided honors of the
day. The Lord Jesus, the Captain of our salvation, puts
some of his chosen into places of great peril, and he does
not seem to send them all the help they could desire, in
order that they may prove their faith and consecration,
and thus earn their spurs. He takes a brotherly pleasure
in the courage and faith which he himself has wrought
in them. All the valor of Christ's soldiers is given them
by himself, and all that it achieves is to be attributed to
him ; yet he finds joy in seeing them exercise their graces.
Like as a father delights to see his boy take prize after
ago SPURGEON'S ILLUSTRATIVE ANECDOTES
prize at the University, like as a friend delights to see
his friend elected to one honorable position after an
other, so does Jesus rejoice in the honors earned by his
servants in the field of service. When we save a soul
from death, we may be sure that Jesus, the Savior, re
joices in the deed.
Joy of Soul-Winning.— I do not know any thing that can
make a man forget his pain and weariness like grasping
the hand of a sinner saved. " Oh," saith the saved one,
" God Almighty bless you ! you nave brought me to Je
sus." This nerves us to new effort. I speak here from
experience, for yesterday evening, when I was thinking
of this subject, I was myself somewhat dull through pain
and weakness, and as God would have it, I took up the
Report of the Baptist Missionary Society, which will be
issued to you on the first of June, and as I glanced over
it, I saw my own name. It seems that our missionary in
San Domingo has had a discouraging year, but it was
lighted up with one most pleasing incident. A man had
come down from the interior of Hayti to ask for bap
tism. Finding him to be a most intelligent Christian,
well instructed in the gospel, the missionary asked how
he came to know anything about it. In reply he told
him that he had fallen in with a sermon translated into
the French language which was preached by Mr. Spur-
geon.
0 friends, I was dull no longer. I had meat to eat.
Had an angel stood in the study, I could not have felt
more delighted with his visit than I did when I read
of a sinner saved. Here was a sermon translated into
French, which was carried far away to Hayti, I do not
know how, and there was read by a Romanist, who found
by it salvation. God bless him ! You cannot faint after
such a success; can you?
HOLY SPIRIT 291
HOLY SPIRIT
The Holy Spirit Invincible.— We have not to think of
quantity. As an illustration: give me fire, I will not
bargain for a furnace, give me but a single candle, and
a city or a forest may soon be in a blaze. A spark is
quite sufficient to begin with, for fire multiplies itself;
so give us the truth, a single voice, and the Holy Spirit
with it, and none can say where the sacred conflagration
will end. One Jonah sufficed to subdue all Nineveh by
one monotonous sentence oft repeated, and despite the
weakness of our present instrumentality, if God does but
bless the gospel, there is no reason why it should not
speedily be felt by the whole of London.
Influence of the Spirirt.— Have you ever heard the argu
ment used by a good old Christian against an infidel doc
tor? The doctor said there was no soul, and asked, " Did
you ever see a soul ? " " No," said the Christian. " Did
you ever hear a soul ? " " No." " Did you ever smell
a soul?" "No." "Did you ever taste a soul?"
"No." "Did you ever feel a soul?" "Yes," said the
man —"I feel I have one within me." " Well," said
the doctor, " there are four senses against one ; you have
only one on your side." " Very well," said the Chris
tian, "Did you ever see a pain?" "No." "Did you
ever hear a pain ? " " No." " Did you ever smell a
pain? " " No." " Did you ever taste a pain? " " No."
"Did you ever feel a pain?" "Yes." "And that is
quite enough, I suppose, to prove there is a pain?"
"Yes." So the worldling says there is no Holy Ghost,
because he cannot see it. Well, but we feel it. You say
that is fanaticism, and that we never felt it. Suppose
you tell me that honey is bitter, I reply, u No, I am
sure you cannot have tasted it ; taste it and try." So with
292 SPURGEON'S ILLUSTRATIVE ANECDOTES
the Holy Ghost; if you did but feel his influence you
would no longer say there is no Holy Spirit, because you
cannot see it.
The Loving Comforter.— I am in distress, and I want con
solation. Some passer-by hears of my sorrow, and he
steps within, sits down, and essays to cheer me ; he speaks
soothing words, but he loves me not; he is a stranger;
he knows me not at all; he has only come in to try his
skill. And what is the consequence ? His words run o'er
me like oil upon a slab of marble, they are like the pat
tering rain upon the rock; they do not break my grief;
it stands unmoved as adamant, because he has no love for
me. But let some one who loves me dear as his own life,
come and plead with me, then truly his words are music ;
they taste like honey: he knows the password of the
doors of my heart, and my ear is attentive to every word.
I catch the intonation of each syllable as it falls, for it
is like the harmony of the harps of heaven. Oh! there
is a voice in love, it speaks a language which is its own :
it has an idiom and a brogue which none can mimic ; wis-
• dom cannot imitate it ; oratory cannot attain unto it ; it is
love alone which can reach the mourning heart; love is
the only handkerchief which can wipe the mourner's tears
away. And is not the Holy Ghost a loving comforter?
STRENGTH
Husks of Men. — There is scarce a man alive now upon this
earth; there are plenty to be found who call themselves
men, but they are the husks of men, the life has gone
from them, the precious kernel seems to have departed.
The littleness of Christians of this age results from the
littleness of their consecration to Christ. The age of
John Owen was the day of great preachers; but let me
tell you, that that was the age of great consecration.
Those great preachers whose names we remember, were
STRENGTH 293
men who counted nothing their own ; they were driven
out from their benefices, because they could not conform
to the established church, and they gave up all they had
willingly to the Lord. They were hunted from place to
place ; the disgraceful five-mile act would not permit them
to come within five miles of any market town; they wan
dered here and there to preach the gospel to a few poor
sinners, being fully given up to their Lord. Those were
foul times; but they promised they would walk the road,
fair or foul, and they did walk it knee deep in mud ; and
they would have walked it if it had been knee deep in
blood too. They became great men; and if we were,
as they were, wholty given up to God — if we could say
of ourselves, " From the crown of my head to the sole
of my foot, there is not a drop of blood that is not wholly
God's; all my time, all my talents, every thing I have is
God's "— if we could say that, we should be strong like
Samson for the consecrated must be strong.
Consecration Source of Strength.— The strongest man in
all the world is a consecrated man? Even tho he
may consecrate himself to a wrong object, yet if it be a
thorough consecration, he will have strength — strength
for evil, it may be, but still strength. In the old Roman
wars with Pyrrhus, you remember an ancient story of
self-devotion. There was an oracle which said that vic
tory would attend that army whose leader should give
himself up to death. Decius, the Roman consul, knowing
this, rushed into the thickest of the battle, that his army
might overcome by his dying. The prodigies of valor
which he performed are proofs of the power of conse
cration. The Romans at that time seemed to be every
man a hero, because every man was a consecrated man.
They went to battle with this thought —"I will conquer
or die; the name of Rome is written on my heart; for
my country I am prepared to live, or for that to shed
204 SPURGEON'S ILLUSTRATIVE ANECDOTES
my blood." And no enemies could ever stand against
them. If a Roman fell there were no wounds in his
back, but all in his breast. His face, even in cold death,
was like the face of a lion, and when looked upon it was
of terrible aspect. They were men consecrated to their
country; they were ambitious to make the name of Rome
the noblest word in human language; and consequently
the Roman became a giant. And to this day let a man
get a purpose within him, I care not what his purpose is,
and let his whole soul be absorbed by it, and what will
he not do ? You that are " every thing by turns and
nothing long," that have nothing to live for, soulless car
cases that walk this earth and waste its air, what can
you do? Why nothing. But the man who knows what
he is at, and has his mark, speeds to it "like an arrow
from a bow shot by an archer strong." Nought can turn
him from his design. How much more is this true if I
limit the description to that which is peculiar to the
Christian — consecration to God ! Oh ! what strength
that man has who is dedicated to God !
Strength in Consecration.— I have seen a Christian woman
most useful in a class, bringing to the Savior many of
the girls whom she has taught; but on a sudden a change
has come, there have been no conversions, and for years
the class has dwindled away, and nothing has come of it.
If enquiry were to be made, it would be found that the
consecration of the teacher had declined. She no longer
spoke with tearful eye and earnest heart, seeking to lead
those girls to Christ; and because her consecration was
gone, her strength was gone.
Our Strength in God.— Listen to a parable : — A certain
young man traded, and in all things he prospered for a
while. In all his dealings he was wise and prudent, and
none were able to overreach him. The cause of his wis
dom was that he had a father, a man of singular knowl-
STRENGTH 295
edge, of great experience, of large wealth, and great in
fluence. His son never entered upon a transaction with
out consulting his fathr. Whenever he felt himself at all
in difficulty, he hastened to ask counsel of his father.
Whenever he needed money to meet a sudden demand, he
drew upon his father. Their love to each other was more
and more manifest as the one trusted and the other
helped. Does anybody wonder that the young man grew
rich? But after a while the son grew cold towards his
father, and seldom advised with him. There was no
quarrel, but the young man was growing independent of
his father, and preferred to act upon his own judgment.
He failed to ask and to receive substantial help, which
would have been freely given; and he fell into great
losses, which might readily have been avoided. The
young man became weak as others; he was the prey of
deceivers; he spent labor and thought and substance upon
matters which ended in failure; he grew poorer and
poorer, till he trembled on the verge of bankruptcy.
Do you wonder? Do you pity him? Do you see in him
your own portrait? If so, take ample warning now and
change it all, and say of your heavenly Father: He is
my friend and counselor, and to him as to no one else I
do continually resort.
Strong When God Leads.— When a clan of Highlanders
was led to battle by their chief he had only to show
them the enemy and with one tremendous shout they
leaped upon them like lions. It is so with the people
of God. When God is with us then we are strong, res
olute, determined. The charge of the servants of God
is as the rush of a hurricane against a bowing wall and
a tottering fence. In God is our confidence of victory.
With God present no man's heart fails him; ^o doubt
enters the host.
396 SPURGEON'S ILLUSTRATIVE ANECDOTES
Strength Distributing Sweetness.— I have before now
met with that popular artist Gustave Dore", and sug
gested subjects to him. Had he survived among us, and
had another opportunity occurred, I would have pressed
him to execute a statue of Samson handing out the
honey; strength distributing sweetness; and it might
have served as a perpetual reminder of what a Chris
tian should be — a Conqueror and a Comforter, slaying
lions and distributing honey.
Strength Through Weakness.— A man is never lost until
ho is devoid of all strength. See you the mariner who
has fallen from the ship ? As long as those brawny arms
of his can stem the current, as long as he can buffet the
waves and hurl them aside with the strong heart of re
sistance, he gives up nought for lost. Ay, and should
his arms become weary, if he can float a little, and with
one hand move himself amid the billows of the deep, he
still thinks it is not all over yet. And while there is
one particle of strength remaining his hopes are too
buoyant to give himself up for a lost man. Suppose
him to have grasped a spar; as long as ever those hands
of his can, with a death-clutch, keep hold of that
floating piece of timber, he does not consider himself
lost. Fond hope still whispers in his ear, " Hold on,
thou art not lost yet; some ship may cross this way,
Providence may guide its path hither, and thou
mayest yet be delivered. Hold on, thou art not lost
while a sinew retains its might, while there is any
vital force in thy frame." So, soul, thou canst never say
thou art lost till thou feelest in thy heart an utter de
parture of all thy strength. Hast thou been brought
to feel that there is nothing which of thyself thou canst
do apart from the strength of the Holy Spirit? There
was a time when thou couldst pray, when thou couldst
repent, when thou couldst believe after thine own fash-
SYMPATHY 297
ion with thine own supposed strength: is that time all
passed over now? Art thou saying, "I have no power
to do any one of those things without grace from on
high! I would, but can not pray; I would, but can not
repent; this strong heart will not dissolve, altho I
strive to melt it ; this haughty mind will resist the Savior,
altho I wish to be led in chains of grace a willing
captive to my Lord ? " Art thou brought to feel that
if thy salvation depended upon one motion of thy soul
in the right direction thou must be lost, for thou hast
no spiritual strength? Art thou lying down shorn of
all thy might, bereft of all help and hope in thyself;
and dost thou confess, " I can do nothing without thee ? "
Well, then, thou art one of those whom Christ has come
to save.
SYMPATHY
Christian Sympathy. — A young man called upon you a
little while ago. He said, " Sir, you know my business.
I have been struggling very hard, and you have kindly
let me have some things on credit. But through the
pressure of the times, I don't know how it is, I seem to
get very hard up. I think, sir, if I could weather the
next month, I might be able to get on well. I have
every prospect of having a trade yet, if I could but
have a little more credit, if you could possibly allow it."
" Young man," you have said, " I have had a great many
bad debts lately. Besides you do not bring me any good
security; I can not trust you." The young man bowed,
and left you. You did not know how he bowed in spirit
as well as in body. That young man had a poor old
mother and two sisters in the house, and he had tried
to estaolish a little business that he might earn bread
and cheese for them as well as for himself. For the last
month they have eaten scarcely anything but bread and
3g8 SPURGEON'S ILLUSTRATIVE ANECDOTES
butter, and the weakest tea has been their drink, and he
has been striving hard; but some one, poorer than he
seemed to be, did not pay him the litle debt that was
due to him, and he could not pay you. And if you had
helped him, it might have been all well with him; and
now what to do he can not tell. His heart is broken,
his soul is swollen within him. That aged mother of
his, and those girls, what shall become of them? You
did not know his agony, or else you would have helped
him. But you ought to have known. You never should
have dismissed his case until you had known a little
more about him. It would not be business-like, would
it ? No, sir, to be business-like is sometimes to be nothing
else than devil-like. But I would not have you business
like when it is so. Out on your business; be Christian-
like.
Superficial Sympathy.— I have heard speak of a lady who
was out in the snow one night, and was so very cold
that she cried out, " Oh, those poor people that have
such a little money, how little firing they have, and how
pinched they must be! I will send a hundred weight of
coals to twenty families, at the least." But I have
heard say that, when she reached her own parlor, there
was a fine fire burning, and she sat there with her feet
on the fender, and enjoyed an excellent tea, and she said
to himself, "Well, it is not very cold, after all. I do
not think that I shall send those coals ; at any rate, not
for the present." The sufferer thinks of the sufferer,
even as the poor help the poor.
The divine wonder is that this Lord of ours, " tho he
was rich, yet for our sakes he became poor," and now
takes a delight in succoring the poor. Having been
tempted, he helps the tempted; his own trials make him
desire to bless those who are tried.
SYMPATHY 299
Sympathy Born of Experience.— We cannot comfort others
if we have never been comforted ourselves. I have heard
— and I am sure that it is so — that there is no com
forter for a widow like one who has lost her husband.
Those who have had no children, and have never lost a
child, may talk very kindly, but they cannot enter into
a mother's broken heart as she bows over yonder little
coffin. If you have never known what temptations
mean, you make poor work when attempting to succor
the tempted. Our Lord obtained a blessing from suffer
ing temptation; and, take my word for it, every one of
you may do the same.
Brother, the Lord means to make of you a man that
shall be used like Barnabas to be a " son of consolation."
He means to make a mother in Israel of you, my dear
sister, that when you meet with others who are sorely east
down, you may know how to drop in a sweet word by
which they shall be comforted. I think you will one day
say, " It was worth while to go through that sorrow to
be enabled to administer relief to that wounded heart."
Sympathy. — " Mother," said a little girl once, " I cannot
make it out; Mrs. Smith says I do her so much good.
Poor Mrs. Smith has lost her husband, mother, and she
is very sad. She sits and cries, and I get up and lay
my cheek on her cheek, and I cry, and say that I love
her, and then she says that she loves me, and that I com
fort her."
Just so. That is the truest form of consolation; is it
not ? " Weep with them that weep." That is how God,
my God, will hear me, feeling with me, sympathizing
with me. " In all their affliction he was afflicted, and the
angel of his presence saved them." So are we assured,
but that is not all : " I am with thee, saith the Lord."
300 SPURGEON'S ILLUSTRATIVE ANECDOTES
TALENTS
Do What You Can Do Best.— " As a bird that wandereth
from her nest, so is a man that wandereth from his
place." I admired one thing greatly in our deceased
friend, Mr. Worcester, who for so long a time kept the
gate outside. When I once asked him whether he could
not be serviceable to the church as an elder, he said that
if he were elected to it he should decline the office, be
cause, he said, " I can do my work as a gate-keeper, but
I do not know what I could do as an elder." So he
resolved to stick to the work in which he was acknowl
edged to good service. I would have each Christian man
do the same.
Every Man in His Place.— There is some youth who is
quite capable of assisting in a Ragged School: perhaps
if he had a higher genius he might disdain the work, and
so the Ragged School would be without its excellent
teacher. There are litle spheres, and God will have little
men to occupy them. There are posts of important duty,
and men shall be found with nerve and muscle fitted for
the labor. He has made a statue for every niche, and a
picture for every portion of the gallery; none shall be
left vacant; but since some niches are small, so shall be
the statuettes that occupy them. To some he gives two
talents, because two are enough, and five would be too
many.
TESTIMONY
Won By His Wife's Faith.— I have read the story of a
man who was converted to God by seeing the conduct of
his wife in the hour of trouble. They had a lovely child,
their only offspring. The father's heart doted on it per
petually, and the mother's soul was knit up in the heart
of the little one. It lay sick upon its bed, and the par-
TESTIMONY 301
ents watched it night and day. At last it died. The
father had no God: he rent his hair, he rolled upon the
floor in misery, wallowed upon the earth, cursing his
being, and defying God in the utter casting down of his
agony. There sat his wife, as fond of the child as ever
he could be; and though tears would come, she gently
said, " The Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away :
blessed be the name of the Lord." "What," said he,
starting to his feet, "you love that child? I thought
that when that child died you would break your heart.
Here am I, a strong man; I am mad: here are you, a
weak woman, and yet you are strong and bold; tell me
what it is possesses you ? " Said she, " Christ is my
Lord, I trust in him; surely I can give this child to him
who gave himself for me." From that instant the man
became a believer. "There must," said he, "be some
truth and some power in the gospel, which could lead
you to believe in such a manner, under such a trial."
Tell Your Own Story.— There is never a more interesting
story than that which a man tells about himself. The
Rhyme of the Ancient Mariner derives much of its in
terest because the man who told it was himself a mariner.
He sat down, that man whose finger was skinny, like the
finger of death, and began to tell that dismal story of
the ship at sea in a great calm, when slimy things did
crawl with legs over the shiny sea. The wedding guest
sat still to listen, for the old man was himself a story.
There is always a great deal of interest excited by a
personal narrative. Virgil, the poet, knew this, and,
therefore, he wisely makes JEneas tell his own story,
and makes him begin it by saying, " In which I also had
a great part myself." So if you would interest your
friends, tell them what you felt yourself. Tell them
how you were once a lost abandoned sinner, how the
Lord met with you, how you bowed your knees, and
3oa SPURGEON'S ILLUSTRATIVE ANECDOTES
poured out your soul before God, and how at last you
leaped with joy, for you thought you heard him say
within you, "I, even I, am he that blotteth out thy
transgressions for my name's sake." Tell your friends
a story of your own personal experience.
An Old Saint's Inspiring Testimony.— I recollect in my
younger days hearing a minister, blind with age, speak
at the communion table, and bear witness to us young
people, who had just joined the church, that it was well
for us that we had come to put our trust in a faithful
God; and as the good man, with great feebleness and
yet with great earnestness, said to us, that he had never
regretted that he had given his heart to Christ as a boy,
I felt my heart leap within me with delight that I had
such a God to be my God. His testimony was such as a
younger man could not have borne : he might have spoken
more fluently, but the weight of those eighty years at
the back of it made the old man eloquent to my young
heart. We who are growing gray in our Master's service
ought not to be backward to speak well of his name.
Why, my brethren, you will not be able to do so much
good in heaven as you can on earth, for they all know
about it up there, but men here need our witness to the
God whom we have tried and proved.
Value of Testimony. — Often has a new convert written to
a worldly friend to tell him of his great change and of
his new joy, and that worldly friend has put the letter
aside with a sneer or a jest; but after a while he has
thought it over, and he has said to himself, " There may
be something in it. I am a stranger to this joy of which
my friend speaks, and I certainly need all the joy I can
get, for I am dull enough." Let me tell you that all
worldlings are not such fools as some would take them
for; they are aware of an unrest within their bosoms,
and they hunger after something better than this vain
TESTIMONY 303
world can give them; so that it frequently happens that
as soon as they leam where the good is they accept it.
Even if they do not hunger, I do not know any better
way of making a man long for food than yourself to
eat.
Bearing Testimony.— There was a spark once that got
into the stubble, and the Angel of Discretion was there,
and he said, " Stark, lie still, lie still, lie still ; if you
begin to consume, the next, and then the next, will get
alight, and perhaps the whole threshing-floor will be in
a blaze, and then the homestead, and then the village."
But preach as he might, the fire would burn, and the
Angel of Discretion had well-nigh burned his wings be
fore he had turned to flee. And so there be some in our
churches who are very angels of prudence. "Young
men," say they, " don't speak too soon ; don't attempt
to do it till you are duly qualified." My dear sirs, if
God has communicated to any man the secret of salva
tion by grace he cannot help telling it; and if the Lord
has touched a man's tongue with a live coal, he will burn
as well as the coal. If the new life has been given to
him, it must find its way out, and be the means of con
veying that life to others.
Experience of Aged Christians.— I recollect in a time of
great despondency deriving wonderful comfort from the
testimony of an aged minister who was blind, and had
been so for twenty years. When he addressed us, he
spoke of the faithfulness of God, with the weak voice
of a tremulous old man, but with the firmness of one
who knew what he said, because he had tasted and han
dled it. T thanked God for what he had said. It was
not much in itself. If I had read it in a book, it would
not have struck me; but as it came from him, from the
very man who knew it and understood it, it came with
force and with unction. So you experienced Christians,
304 SPURGEON'S ILLUSTRATIVE ANECDOTES
if any others are silent, you must not be. You must tell
the young ones of what the Lord has done for you.
Why, some of you good old Christian people are apt to
get talking about the difficulties, troubles, and afflictions
you have met with more than about the succors, the de
liverances, and the joys you have proved; not unlike
those persons in "Pilgrim's Progress," who told poor
Pilgrim about the lions, and giants, and dragons, and
the sloughs, and hills, and all that could terrify and
dishearten him. They might have mentioned all this,
but they should also have told of Mr. Greatheart, and
they should not have forgotten to speak of the eternal
arm that sustains Christian in his pilgrimage. Tell the
troubles, that were wise; but tell the strength of God
that makes you sufficient, that is wiser still. Empty
yourselves. If you have got experience, empty your
selves upon the earth.
TRIALS
Comfort in Trial. — I went some time ago into the house
of our brother Stephenson; a good soldier of the cross
was he: he fell asleep in Jesus; and when I saw his
weeping sons and daughters, I felt, " I have easy work
here." I said to them, "Why, what a mercy it is that
your father is gone, for he has lingered long in pain,
and you know how ready he was to enter into rest."
That was very different from what happens sometimes.
Only a little while ago a sister came to me weeping as
if she would break her heart. " Ah, sir," said she, " my
brother is dead, and he died without hope." It was a sad
case, but then she had a God to repair to even under
that sharp trial. But, when death comes into your
house, you have no God ! I knelt down and prayed with
those poor weeping girls this morning, and, tho their
father was but just dead, I marked that the voice of
TRIALS 305
prayer had evidently a soothing charm about it, and
tho they wept, yet it seemed to sooth and pacify them.
But some of you do not pray, and, therefore, this
comfort cannot be yours.
Saved as by Fire.— <•' A young lady, who belonged to a
church in the city of New York, married a young man
who was not a Christian. He was a merchant, engaged
in a lucrative business, and the golden stream of wealth
flowed in upon him till he had amassed a large fortune.
He accordingly retired from business, and went into the
country. He purchased a splendid residence; fine trees
waved their luxuriant foliage around it; here was a
lake filled with fish, and there a garden full of rare
shrubbery and flowers. Their house was fashionably
and expensively furnished; and they seemed to possess
all of earth that mortal could desire. Thus prospered,
and plied with an interchange of civilities among her
gay and fashionable neighbors, the piety of the lady de
clined, and her heart became wedded to the world. And
it is not to be wondered at, that her three children, as
they grew up, imbibed her spirit and copied her exam
ple. ' A severe disease/ it is said, ' demands a severe
remedy ;' and that God soon applied. One morning
intelligence came that her little son had fallen into the
fish-lake, and was drowned. The mother's heart was
pierced with the affliction, and she wept and murmured
against the providence of God. Soon afterwards, her
only daughter, a blooming girl of sixteen, was taken
sick of a fever and died. It seemed then as if the
mother's heart would have broken. But this new stroke
of the rod of a chastening Father seemed but to increase
her displeasure against his will. The only remaining
child, her eldest son, who had come home from college
to attend his sister's funeral, went into the fields soon
afterwards, for the purpose of hunting. In getting over
306 SPURGEON'S ILLUSTRATIVE ANECDOTES
a fence, he put his gun over first to assist himself in
springing to the ground, when it accidentally discharged
itself and killed htm! What then were that mother's
feelings? In the extravagance of her grief, she fell
down, tore her hair, and raved like a maniac against the
providence of God. The father, whose grief was already
almost insupportable, when he looked upon the shocking
spectacle, and heard her frenzied ravings, could endure
his misery no longer. The iron entered into his soul
and he fell a speedy victim to his accumulated afflictions.
From the wife and mother, her husband and all her chil
dren were now taken away. Reason returned, and she
was led to reflection. She saw her dreadful backslidings,
her pride, her rebellion; and she wept with the tears of
a deep repentance. Peace was restored to her soul.
Then could she lift up her hands to heaven, exclaiming,
' I thank thee, 0 Father ! — the Lord hath given, the
Lord hath taken away, and blessed be the name of the
Lord/ "
Crowing Great Through Trial.— When a shipwright builds
a vessel, does he build it to keep it upon the stocks"?
Nay, he builds it for the sea and the storm. When he
was making it he thought of tempests and hurricanes:
if he did not, he was a poor shipbuilder. When God
made thee a believer he meant to try thee; and when he
gave thee promises, and bade thee trust them, he gave
such promises as are suitable for times of tempest and
tossing. Dost thou think God makes shams like some
that have made belts for swimming, which were good to
exhibit in a shop, but of no use in the sea? We have
all heard of swords which were useless in war; and
even of shoes which were made to sell, but were never
meant to walk in. God's shoes are of iron and brass,
and you can walk to heaven in them without their ever
wearing out: and his life-belts, you may swim a thou-
TRIALS 307
sand Atlantics upon them, and there will be no fear of
your sinking. His word of promise is meant to be
tried and proved. 0 man, I beseech you do not treat
God's promises as if they were curiosities for a museum,
but use them as every day sources of comfort. Trust
the Lord whenever your time of need comes on.
Rest Through Conflict.— There will be no climbing the hill
of the Lord without effort; no going to glory without
the violence of faith. I believe that the ascent to heaven
is still, as Bunyan described it — a staircase, every step
of which will have to be fought for. He heard sweet
singers on the roof of the palace, singing,
Come in! come in!
Eternal glory thou shalt win."
Many had a mind to enter the palace and win that
eternal glory; but then at the doorway stood a band of
warlike men, with drawn swords, to wound and kill every
man that ventured to enter. Therefore many who would
have liked to have walked on the top of the palace did
not care for so dangerous an enterprise; they desired
the end, but not the way to it. At last there came one
with a determined countenance, and he said to the writer
with the inkhorn by his side, " Set down my name, sir" ;
and when his name was duly recorded, he drew his sword
and rushed upon the armed men with all his might. It
was a fierce conflict, but he meant to conquer or die, and
he did conquer; he cut a lane through his enemies, and
by and by he, too, was heard singing with the rest
"Come in! come in!
Eternal glory thou shalt win."
By conflict throughout a whole life we come to our rest;
and there is no other way. You cannot go round to a
308 SPURGEON'S ILLUSTRATIVE ANECDOTES
back-door, and enter into heaven by stealth. You must
fight if you would reign.
Strong Through Struggle.— A soldier is trained by bat
tles, and a mariner by storms. What can a man do
when he has everything to his hand? Everything is pos
sible to him, but so it is to every simpleton. He is truly
a man who has nothing to assist him, and yet is aided
by the opposition which confronts him. To sail against
wind and tide would be more notable than to drift
with gale and current. Is he not a true man who can
turn to account the worst possible circumstances so as
to produce the best possible results'? He has an appor-
tunity for distinguishing himself who is placed amid
temptations and perils. In your life, good works are
provided for,— " God hath before prepared that we
should walk in them."
TRUST
Work and Trust.— That was sound philosophy of Ma
homet's when the man said, " I have turned my camel
loose, and trusted in providence." " No," answered he,
" tie your camel up and then trust in providence." Do
the best you can and trust in God. God never meant
that faith in him should be synonymous with sloth.
Why, for the matter of that, if it is all God's work,
and that is to be the only consideration, there is no need
for David to have a sling. Nay, there is not any need
for David at all. He may go back, lie on his back in
the middle of the field, and say, " God will do his work :
he does not want me." That is how fatalists would
talk, but not how believers in God would act. They
say, " God wills it, therefore I am going to do it " —
not " God does it, and therefore there is nothing for me
to do." Nay, "Because God works by me, therefore I
will work by his good hand upon me. He is putting
TRUST 309
strength into his feeble servant, and making use of me
as his instrument, good for nothing tho I am apart
from him. Now will I run to the battle with alacrity,
and T will use my sling with the best skill I have, taking
quiet, calm, deliberate aim at that monster's brow, since
I believe that God will guide the stone and accomplish
his own end."
The Wisdom of Trust in God.— The child playing on the
deck does not understand the tremendous engine whose
beat is the throbbing heart of the stately Atlantic liner,
and yet all is safe; for the engineer, the captain and
the pilot are in their places, and well know what is being
done. Let not the child trouble itself about things too
great for it. Leave you the discovery of doubtful causes
to him whose understanding is infinite; and as for your
self, be you still, and know that Jehovah is God. Unbe
lief misinterprets the ways of God; hasty judgment
jumps at wrong conclusions about them; but the Lord
knows his own thoughts. We are doubtful where we
ought to be sure, and we are sure where we have no
ground for certainty: thus we are always in the wrong.
How should it be otherwise with us, since vain men would
be wise, and yet he is born like a wild ass's colt? We
are hard to tame and to teach ; but as for the Lord, " his
way is perfect."
" His thoughts are high, his love is wise,
His wounds a cure intend;
And though he does not always smile,
He loves unto the end."
Trust the Key to Life's Problem.— The world is a bleak
house, a chill and empty corridor without God; and men
are orphans, and life is hopeless and death is starless
night, if Jesus is not known and loved. He who trusts
his soul with Jesus has found the key of the great secret,
3io SPURGEON'S ILLUSTRATIVE ANECDOTES
the clue of the maze. Henceforth he shall see, in all
that smiles or rages around him in our changeful weather,
pledges of the love of the Father, tokens of the grace of
the son, and witnesses of the work of the Holy Ghost.
Trust in God.— Whatever trials the believer has, he has a
God to fly to. " Look," said a poor woman to a lady
who called to see her, "Look, ma'am, I'll show you all
I'm worth. Do you see that cupboard, ma'am? Look
in." The lady looked in, and saw nothing. " Do you
see this cupboard?" said the woman. "Yes," said the
lady, "but there is nothing in it but a dry crust."
" Well," continued the woman, " do you see this chest ? "
" Yes, I see it ; but it is empty," was the reply. " Well,"
said she, " that is all I am worth, ma'am ; but I have
not a doubt or fear with regard to my temporal affairs.
My God is so good that I can still live without doubts
and fears." She knew what it was to break through a
troop and leap over a wall.
Trust and Service. — God never leaves true trust without
work to do. It is not a presentation sword to be worn
only on high days and holidays, neither is it like the old
armor in the Tower of London, hung up to be looked at ;
no, true trust is for e very-day wear and use, and be
tween here and heaven it will be tested in every conceiv
able way. That sword will snap if it be not a true
Jerusalem blade, and that armor will be pierced if it be
not of proof, able to endure the battle-axe of fierce
temptation.
WEAKNESS
The Appeal of Weakness. — As a certain town was being
sacked, one of the rough soldiery is said to have spared
a little child, because it said, "Please, sir, don't kill me,
I am so little." The rough warrior felt the cogency of
the plea. You may yourselves just plead thus with
WEALTH 3"
God. "0 God, do not destroy me! I deserve it, but
oh, I am so little! Turn thy power upon some great
thing, and let thy bowels move with compassion towards
me!"
WEALTH
Seeking Heavenly Riches.— The Roman Emperor fitted
out a great expedition and sent it to conquer Britain.
The valiant legionaries leaped ashore, and each man
gathered a handful of shells and went back to his bark
again — that was all. Some of you are equally foolish.
You are fitted by God for great endeavors and lofty en
terprises, and you are gathering shells: your gold and
your silver, your houses and your lands — they are mere
empty shells — and heaven and everlasting life you let
go. Like Nero, you send to Alexandria for sand for
your amusements, and send not for wheat for your starv
ing souls. 0 fools and slow of heart, when shall God,
who gave you souls, give those souls wisdom that you may
seek after the true treasure, the real pearl, the heavenly
riches'? "Well," cries one, "how is heaven to be had1?"
It is to be had only by a personal seeking after it. I
have read of one who, when drowning, saw the rainbow
in the heavens. Picture him as he sinks; he looks up,
and there if he sees the many-colored bow, he may think
to himself, " There is God's covenant-sign that the world
shall never be drowned, and yet, here I am drowning in
this river."
Drowned by Riches.— I have heard of one, the steward
ess of an American vessel, who when the ship was sink
ing, saw heaps of gold coin scattered upon the cabin
floor by those who had thrown it there in the confusion
of their escape: she gathered up large quantities of it,
wrapped it round her waist, and leaped into the water;
she sank like a millstone, as tho she had studiously
3ia SPURGEON'S ILLUSTRATIVE ANECDOTES
prepared herself for destruction. I fear that many of
you traders are diligently collecting guarantees for your
surer ruin, planning to bury yourselves beneath your
glittering hoards. Be wise in time. My voice, nay, my
heart pleads with you for your soul's sake and for
Christ's sake, be not like Ahitophel, who set his house
in order and hanged himself. Take sure bond for endur
ing happiness, invest in indisputable securities, have done
with infinite risks, and be assured for life everlasting.
Debased by Wealth.— Strange to say, we have known
many Christians who have forgoten much of their love
to Christ when they have risen in the world. " Ah ! "
said a woman, who had been wont to do much for Christ
in poverty, and who had had a great sum left her, " I
cannot do as much as I used to do." " But how is
that?" said one. Said she, "When I had a shilling
purse I had a guinea heart, but now I have a guinea
purse I have only a shilling heart." It is a sad tempta
tion to some men to get rich. They were content to go
to the meeting-house and mix with the ignoble congre
gation, while they had but little; they have grown rich;
there is a Turky carpet in the drawing-room; they have
arrangements now too splendid to permit them to invite
the poor of the flock, as they once did, and Christ Jesus
is not so fashionable as to allow them to introduce any
religious topic when they meet with their new friends.
Besides this, they say they are now obliged to pay this
visit and that visit, and they must spend so much time
upon attire, and in maintaining their station and re
spectability, they cannot find time to pray as they did.
The house of God has to be neglected for the party, and
Christ has less of their heart than ever he had. "Is
this thy kindness to thy friend ? " And hast thou risen
so high that thou art ashamed of Christ? and art thou
grown so rich, that Christ in his poverty is despised?
WEALTH 313
Alas ! poor wealth ! alas ! base wealth ! alas ! vile wealth !
'Twere well for thee if it should be all swept away, if
a descent to poverty should be a restoration to the ardency
of thine affection.
The Idolotry of Money. — One can easily overlook the fault
of making too much of children, and wife, and friends,
altho very grievous in the sight of God; but alas;
there are some that are too sordid to love flesh and blood ;
they love dirt, mere dirty earth, yellow gold. It is that
on which they set their hearts. Their purse, they tell
us, is dross; but when we come to take aught from it,
we find they do not think it is so. " Oh," said a man
once, " if you want a subscription from me, Sir, you
must get at my heart, and then you will get at my purse."
" Yes," said I, " I have no doubt I shall, for I believe
that is where your purse lies, and I shall not be very far
off from it."
BV 4225 .S63 1906
SMC
Spurgeon, C. H. (Charles
Haddon), 1834-1892.
Spurgeon' s Illustrative
anecdotes /
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